Listen to this article
Estimated 5 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
The fall sitting of the Alberta legislature made national headlines, as the United Conservative Party government invoked the notwithstanding clause — Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — in four contentious bills, including three affecting transgender people.
Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, a former Calgary mayor, joined the Legislative Assembly this fall after winning the Edmonton-Strathcona byelection in June — a year after becoming the party’s leader.
In a sit-down interview, Nenshi told CBC News he and his 24 MLAs represent more than a “health care and education party.” He is confident the NDP could improve the province’s economy, and win over more rural voters in the next provincial election.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
It was a hugely challenging year going up against the majority UCP government and their use of the notwithstanding clause. What were some of the moments you remember, where the NDP succeeded?
It’s a government that feels like it’s trapped in a corner and lashing out and just randomly throwing things. “Let’s do some culture war stuff here. Let’s privatize health care there.”
What we tried to do was show Albertans, “what does a government-in-waiting look like?”
We put forth legislation on the minimum wage, on dealing with grocery prices, on auto insurance, on developing incentives for the energy sector to invest in a better electricity grid and bring down people’s electricity prices, on whistleblower protections for health-care workers, to really give people a sense of who we are.
Some people criticize that you were lacking some high-profile presence in the Legislative Assembly while all of these controversies were going on. Do you agree with that assessment?
Well, it’s certainly changed — no one’s saying that anymore. And certainly, being in the House [legislature] has been tremendously helpful. But at the same time, we also used this fall to launch a new way that we communicate with people. We’ve launched a new campaign that … talks about how we can be better, and that has been tremendous. People are really starting to understand who we are and what we stand for.
Do you feel, then, that you are engaging and making rural voters more in-tune to what the NDP is all about?
When I travel across Alberta, I hear these stories over and over again: “The government takes us for granted. [The UCP] think they’re always gonna win here, so they don’t focus on our issues.” Those basic issues are the cost of living, sustainable jobs — now and in the future — health care and education in a very different, and very real, way than we might see in the city.
So, if we were at [Edmonton’s] Royal Alex Hospital today, we might have to wait in the ER for 12 hours. But in many communities in Alberta, you have to drive past a closed ER to get to an open one.
These are very serious issues, and even if the NDP support is concentrated in the cities, we never will.
WATCH | Nenshi discusses his party’s performance:
Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi wants to show voters a ‘government in waiting’
Following a raucous fall session at the Alberta Legislature — marked by the UCP majority passing several controversial bills — NDP leader Naheed Nenshi sat down for a year-end interview. He argued that his party is the better choice to lead the province, focusing on health care, education in both urban and rural Alberta, and economic growth.
You’re already getting ready for the next election, it sounds. Voters are still going to be concerned about affordability and jobs. So with the UCP repeatedly criticizing the NDP, or insisting, that you’re going to raise taxes, what is your plan for the economy and personal and corporate income tax?
New Democrats always hear, “We know you’re better on health care. We know you’re better on education. We know you have the same values as me, but the economy.”
My record in Calgary — 11 years of balanced budgets … the lowest taxes in the country and the highest quality of life in the country — I think that speaks for itself.
We have to keep taxes low and competitive … But the No. 1, most important thing is you’ve got to grow the economy.
Do you believe in the pipeline to the coast?
One hundred per cent. We built one. You know, you don’t get to be the mayor of Calgary without really knowing the oil-and-gas industry well. I had a front-row seat on how Trans Mountain got built.
The memorandum of understanding that the premier signed with the prime minister — now we have a UCP-Liberal alliance. Who knew? — is a really good first step. But now, you have to roll up your sleeves. You have to work with Indigenous communities. You have to work with communities along the route. You have to have a route. You’ve got to work with private sector proponents who are scared about the price of oil going down and they don’t want to invest billions of dollars now.
Is there anything else you would like to add today?
Times are rough right now. Politics right now are so divisive; they’re really focused on getting people angry.
But my message to Albertans is, “Forget about it.” … And in 2026, I want to help people remember what Alberta is.
I always say, “You can’t dream small under a sky that big.”