Alberta NDP candidates square off on water allocation, renewables, healthcare and more at Lethbridge debate

The full debate can be viewed at the Alberta NDP YouTube channel.

The candidates all spoke with members of the media following the debate.

Sarah Hoffman

Sarah Hoffman described herself as ‘sassy’, saying, “I think that what we need in Alberta is somebody who’s not going to be afraid to stand up for regular people.”

“That’s been my reputation,” she added.

Hoffman says a key to an NDP win in the next provincial election is by being ‘unapologetic New Democrats’ and offering “bold policies”.

“Anyone who wants to lead this party shouldn’t be afraid to be bold and to be courageous. I agree that we have beautiful big blue skies, but what we actually need are concrete policies,” she added.

Hoffman was asked about the housing crisis, particularly as it pertains to Lethbridge. She responded, “We need more permanent supportive housing.”

Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse

Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse was beaming about the strong turnout for the debate. She also thanked individuals who watched the livestream of the event if they were unable to attend in-person.

“You can certainly tell that the NDP will be government in 2027,” she remarked.

Calahoo Stonehouse praised her fellow candidates.

She said despite differing opinions and ideas on leadership between the candidates, “We are a party, and we are a collective and we will work for Albertans, every single one of us.”

Calahoo Stonehouse spoke on the importance of water in the province, as drought is top of mind for municipalities across Alberta.

“Water is essential to every single economic system in this province, whether it’s irrigation, oil and gas [or] hydrogen,” she said.

Gil McGowan

Gil McGowan echoed Calahoo Stonehouse’s sentiments about his fellow candidates.

“There’s a lot of excitement among New Democrats. There’s a real feeling that we can build and win toward the next election,” he said.

McGowan said there are two big problems facing the NDP today.

“We have a hard time winning in rural Alberta outside of the big cities [Calgary and Edmonton], but the polling also tells another story that we have to recognize and can’t ignore,” he remarked.

McGowan believes many working-class individuals avoid voting for the NDP due to the notion that New Democrats, as he put it, “are a bunch of over-educated, sanctimonious, urban people who look down their noses at ordinary, working people, especially outside of the big cities.”

Despite the overall friendly tone of the debate, McGowan brought up some concerns regarding fellow candidate Naheed Nenshi.

He remarked that the party needs to work hard to be “more Tim Hortons and less Starbucks” to appeal to people that tend to avoid voting for the NDP.

McGowan said because he grew up in rural Alberta, he is uniquely suited to appeal to missing voters as leader of the party.

Naheed Nenshi

Naheed Nenshi said, “We’ve [the candidates] got a ton of respect for one another and I’ve got a ton of respect for the great ideas and experience that all of them bring to the table.”

Nenshi entered the leadership race as the former long-time mayor of Calgary. He announced his decision to not run for re-election in 2021 after serving three terms as mayor.

Because of this, some have considered him an outsider in the NDP leadership race as fellow candidates Hoffman, Calahoo Stonehouse and Ganley are all current party members in the legislature. McGowan is the head of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

However, Nenshi said the party has been “extraordinarily welcoming”.

Nenshi said as an ‘outsider’, he can bring a helpful perspective to the provincial party.

“Sometimes a newcomer to the dinner table can help identify what some of the issues in the family are – the things we have to surface, the things we have to move on with. I want to be very clear: this party does not need a saviour. This is not a takeover. The ‘N’ in NDP should not stand for Naheed Democratic Party any more than it’s stood for Notley Democratic Party.”

Nenshi reacted to amendments to the Municipal Government and Local Authorities Election acts proposed earlier on Thursday.

READ: Alberta proposes councillor removal powers, electronic tabulator ban and more in city government revamp

“It’s very clear that this government is now operated on spite and arrogance. They’re clearly doing this out of revenge on the voters of Calgary and Edmonton who didn’t vote the way they wanted them to and to me that is no way to run a government,” Nenshi said.

“This is crazy. This really highlights that this government is fundamentally disinterested in governing as a government, but actually only working on their whims, and their needs, their self-indulgence, they’re not thinking about the future.”

It was a full house at the Yates Memorial Theatre for the Alberta NDP leadership debate in Lethbridge, April 25, 2024. (Photo: LNN)

Nenshi added that it is important for candidates to realize that the landscape of the province might look different by the time the NDP has a chance to form government.

“We can stand up here and say ‘I don’t believe in a consumer carbon tax’, but we’re not going to form government for three years and three years from now, we don’t know what hell the UCP will reek on us over those three years, so to make a bunch of promises today knowing full-well that you may not be able to implement them in three years because the world will be different, that’s not a New Democrat thing to do, that’s a UCP thing to do.”

Kathleen Ganley

Kathleen Ganley said the debate was “an exceptional conversation about ideas”.

“I think that knowing where people stand on key issues is important,” she remarked.

Ganley spoke on what kind of story the NDP wants to tell Albertans, in response to what the governing UCP is sharing with citizens.

“The story the UCP wants to tell us is if we give more money to our bosses, we give more money to very profitable corporations, that that will grow the economy. That just isn’t true,” she said.

Like Nenshi, Ganley criticized proposed changes to the Municipal Government and Local Authorities Election acts.

“This is because most Albertans’ values resonate with progressive politics and they [the UCP] want to do something about that so they’re trying to sort of get in there and change this,” she said.

Ganley believes the governing UCP is looking for “absolute power”.

“I don’t think Danielle Smith has any interest in democracy. I think they’re starting to realize that people aren’t buying what they’re selling anymore and so they’re flailing for more power,” she said.

Candidates received a standing ovation at the conclusion of the Alberta NDP leadership debate in Lethbridge, April 25, 2024. (Photo: LNN)

Former premier Rachel Notley announced in January that she would be stepping down as the party’s leader once a new one is chosen.

Additional leadership debates are scheduled to take place in Calgary on May 11 and in Edmonton on June 2. The leadership race will conclude on June 22, the last day of voting.

by Justin Goulet