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Alberta

Former Premier Rachel Notley steps down as leader of the Alberta NDP

Published

1 year ago

9 minute read

News release from the Alberta NDP

Good morning everyone.

We’re gathered on the traditional territory of Treaty 6 and I also want to acknowledge the Metis people who share a deep connection to this land.

There’s been a great deal of speculation since the election as to my future. While politics to the south of us would suggest I have at least 20 years left in my political career, I think the advisability of that is debatable.

More to the point, having considered what I believe to be the best interests of our party, our caucus, as well as my own preferences, I am here today to announce that I will not be leading Alberta’s NDP into the next election.

I have informed both the senior officers of Alberta’s NDP as well as my caucus and staff that upon the selection of a new leader, I will be stepping down from that role.

This October will be 10 years since I was first given the honour of leading our party.

At the time we were the fourth party in the legislature with a massive caucus consisting of four MLAs. Less than seven months later we had a caucus of 54 MLAs, and Alberta’s first NDP government.

While many of those folks never expected to be elected…

…let alone find themselves in a government cabinet, we scrambled, quickly, to live up to the immense privilege the people of Alberta bestowed upon us.

We didn’t get everything right. But we governed with integrity, an ambitious agenda and an earnest desire to make life better for Albertans.

While this is not the place to go down into a policy rabbit hole, I will highlight just a few of the things that make me proud.

We approved and built the Calgary Cancer Centre – a decision that was at least a decade overdue.
We stood up for the rights of working people – improving their access to unions, increasing their holidays, protecting their safety in the workplace …

…And we were the first jurisdiction in North America to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, making a real difference in the life of Alberta’s working poor and tens of thousands of young people and their families.

We secured Alberta’s first pipeline to tidewater in over 50 years, ensuring that the return to Albertans for the sale of resources we all own is permanently increased.

We eliminated coal-fired electricity in Alberta, thereby increasing the health of countless citizens, and at the same time kickstarting our renewable energy industry to be the fastest growing on the continent…

…all while significantly reducing our emissions in one fell swoop.

And, finally, in the midst of a recession caused by the international collapse in the price of oil (seriously folks, I did not cause that), we cut child poverty in half.

But, as I said, we didn’t get it all right. And Albertans told us so in April of 2019.

Now I thought about leaving then. And there are many reasons I did not. But the biggest is probably this: too many people were declaring that the Alberta NDP was done, and, more importantly, that Alberta was destined to revert back to being a one party conservative state.

And I knew that wasn’t true. And I also knew that it would be awful for Albertans if they came to believe that it was.

So four years later, last spring, we came so close to earning the right to lead Alberta again.

We received the highest percentage of the vote that the Alberta NDP ever has.

We won Edmonton,

We won the majority of seats in Calgary,

We increased our vote throughout the province and we elected the largest Official Opposition in the history of this province.

An opposition that is very very ready to take over the reins of government.

But it wasn’t enough. And that’s why it’s now time for me to leave.

But if there is any ONE accomplishment that I can leave behind me… it’s that we are NOT a one party province where Albertans have no real choice about how their province is run.

Albertans do not ever have to feel that elections and their opinions don’t matter.

It was that way when I started. It’s not that way anymore.

Not only do I leave Albertans with that electoral choice, I leave them with a caucus that is filled with expert, dedicated, diverse people, supported by the hardest working and most skilled political staff in the country.

Our NDP team will not stop fighting to make life better for all Albertans.

We will fight to protect and improve our healthcare, to stand up for our children’s right to a world-class education, to fix the housing crisis, to keep Albertan’s CPP safe, and to confront the reality of climate change.

Roughly ten years ago today, I talked to my kids about how they’d feel if I decided to run for the leadership of the Alberta NDP.

Roughly 15, 12 and 10 years ago, I listened to my husband tell me he thought I should run for the leadership of the Alberta NDP.

In all cases, my family got a bit more than they’d bargained for. It’s been a crazy ride, but I could not have done it without them.

I was raised by both my father and my mother to believe that public service is something one should strive for throughout your life.

I wish they could have been here to see some of what we’ve accomplished.

Either way it would not have happened without the examples they both set – demonstrating daily the value of hard work, compassion for our neighbours and the importance of their social democratic convictions.

To all the volunteers, activists, donors, canvassers, past current and future in Alberta’s NDP — Thank you.

There would be no success without you. You are the strength and the foundation of our movement and I will be forever humbled by your selfless dedication to our province.

Short of having, raising, and debating with my family, the opportunity to serve this party and this province has been the honour of my life.

Over the last decade, Albertans have given me a tremendous opportunity to serve in this role and I am so grateful.

The people of our province are bold, friendly, open, caring and adventurous. I’ve learned so much from them. And the land we share is the most beautiful — and sometimes the coldest — place on earth.

I also want to thank the people of Edmonton Strathcona who have supported me since 2008. We live in and are part of a fabulous community that I am so proud to call home.

Thank you to all the Albertans I’ve met along the way – those who advised me, supported me, disagreed with me, and, yes, even campaigned against me.

We all love this province.

I love this province and I know that our best days are still ahead.

Thank you.

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Alberta

Median workers in Alberta could receive 72% more under Alberta Pension Plan compared to Canada Pension Plan

Published on July 15, 2025

By

From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill and Joel Emes

Moving from the CPP to a provincial pension plan would generate savings for Albertans in the form of lower contribution rates (which could be used to increase private retirement savings while receiving the same pension benefits as the CPP under the new provincial pension), finds a new study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“Due to Alberta’s comparatively high rates of employment, higher average incomes, and younger population, Albertans would pay a lower contribution rate through a separate provincial pension plan while receiving the same benefits as under the CPP,” said Tegan Hill, director of Alberta policy at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Illustrating the Potential of an Alberta Pension Plan.

Assuming Albertans invested the savings from moving to a provincial pension plan into a private retirement account, and assuming a contribution rate of 5.85 per cent, workers earning the median income in Alberta ($53,061 in 2025) could accrue a stream of retirement payments totalling $454,741 (pre-tax)—a 71.6 per cent increase from their stream of CPP payments ($264,968).

Put differently, under the CPP, a median worker receives a total of $264,968 in retirement income over their life. If an Alberta worker saved the difference between what they pay now into the CPP and what they would pay into a new provincial plan, the income they would receive in retirement increases. If the contribution rate for the new provincial plan was 5.85 per cent—the lower of the available estimates—the increase in retirement income would total $189,773 (or an increase of 71.6 per cent).

If the contribution rate for a new Alberta pension plan was 8.21 per cent—the higher of the available estimates—a median Alberta worker would still receive an additional $64,672 in retirement income over their life, a marked increase of 24.4 per cent compared to the CPP alone.

Put differently, assuming a contribution rate of 8.21 per cent, Albertan workers earning the median income could accrue a stream of retirement payments totaling $329,640 (pre-tax) under a provincial pension plan—a 24.4 per cent increase from their stream of CPP payments.

“While the full costs and benefits of a provincial pension plan must be considered, its clear that Albertans could benefit from higher retirement payments under a provincial pension plan, compared to the CPP,” Hill said.

Illustrating the Potential of an Alberta Pension Plan

  • Due to Alberta’s comparatively high rates of employment, higher average incomes, and younger population, Albertans would pay a lower contribution rate with a separate provincial pension plan, compared with the CPP, while receiving the same benefits as under the CPP.
  • Put differently, moving from the CPP to a provincial pension plan would generate savings for Albertans, which could be used to increase private retirement income. This essay assesses the potential savings for Albertans of moving to a provincial pension plan. It also estimates an Albertan’s potential increase in total retirement income, if those savings were invested in a private account.
  • Depending on the contribution rate used for an Alberta pension plan (APP), ranging from 5.85 to 8.2 percent, an individual earning the CPP’s yearly maximum pensionable earnings ($71,300 in 2025), would accrue a stream of retirement payments under the total APP (APP plus private retirement savings), yielding a total retirement income of between $429,524 and $584,235. This would be 22.9 to 67.1 percent higher, respectively, than their stream of CPP payments ($349,545).
  • An individual earning the median income in Alberta ($53,061 in 2025), would accrue a stream of retirement payments under the total APP (APP plus private retirement savings), yielding a total retirement income of between $329,640 and $454,741, which is between 24.4 percent to 71.6 percent higher, respectively, than their stream of CPP payments ($264,968).

 

Tegan Hill

Director, Alberta Policy, Fraser Institute
Joel Emes

Joel Emes

Senior Economist, Fraser Institute
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Alberta

Alberta ban on men in women’s sports doesn’t apply to athletes from other provinces

Published on July 15, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Alberta’s Fairness and Safety in Sport Act bans transgender males from women’s sports within the province but cannot regulate out-of-province transgender athletes.

Alberta’s ban on gender-confused males competing in women’s sports will not apply to out-of-province athletes.

In an interview posted July 12 by the Canadian Press, Alberta Tourism and Sport Minister Andrew Boitchenko revealed that Alberta does not have the jurisdiction to regulate out-of-province, gender-confused males from competing against female athletes.

“We don’t have authority to regulate athletes from different jurisdictions,” he said in an interview.

Ministry spokeswoman Vanessa Gomez further explained that while Alberta passed legislation to protect women within their province, outside sporting organizations are bound by federal or international guidelines.

As a result, Albertan female athletes will be spared from competing against men during provincial competition but must face male competitors during inter-provincial events.

In December, Alberta passed the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act to prevent biological men who claim to be women from competing in women’s sports. The legislation will take effect on September 1 and will apply to all school boards, universities, as well as provincial sports organizations.

The move comes after studies have repeatedly revealed what almost everyone already knew was true, namely, that males have a considerable advantage over women in athletics.

Indeed, a recent study published in Sports Medicine found that a year of “transgender” hormone drugs results in “very modest changes” in the inherent strength advantages of men.

Additionally, male athletes competing in women’s sports are known to be violent, especially toward female athletes who oppose their dominance in women’s sports.

In February, Andres ranted about why men should be able to compete in women’s competitions, calling for “the Ontario lifter” who opposes this, apparently referring to powerlifter April Hutchinson, to “die painfully.”

Interestingly, while Andres was suspended for six months for issuing death threats, Hutchinson was suspended for two years after publicly condemning him for stealing victories from women and then mocking his female competitors on social media. Her suspension was later reduced to a year.

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