Rivals for Alberta NDP leadership torn on federal party ties
Global News
Alberta’s NDP leadership race has triggered a broader existential debate over provincial and federal NDP party ties.
What began as a race to pick a new leader for Alberta’s Opposition NDP has triggered a broader existential debate over why being provincially orange must automatically tie you to the federal brand.
According to party constitutions, members of a provincial NDP are automatically members of the federal party.
It’s a linkage that caused headaches for Alberta’s NDP when it was in government from 2015 to 2019 and continues to prove politically problematic as it seeks to wrest power from Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservatives in 2027.
The NDP got a big boost in profile — and a reported spike in memberships — earlier this month when former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi joined the race.
Rakhi Pancholi, a two-term Edmonton legislature and one of the leadership candidates, immediately quit the race to back him.
Nenshi says it’s time for the Alberta NDP to cut the apron strings.
“I think the membership has to have a very serious conversation about its links with the federal NDP,” Nenshi said in an interview.
“I believe that our ties to the federal NDP are remnants of a party that wasn’t confident, a party that wasn’t grown up yet, that relied on big brother to look after us.