Naheed Nenshi reflects on first six months as NDP leader in year-end interview
CBC
The Alberta NDP chose a new leader in 2024 for the first time in nearly a decade.
Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi won the race to succeed Rachel Notley in June by securing 86 per cent of the vote.
Nenshi entered the spring leadership contest as an outsider. He admitted to not becoming a party member until shortly before he announced his leadership intentions.
The CBC's Michelle Bellefontaine spoke to Nenshi in mid-December, shortly after the end of the fall legislature sitting.
Thanks for taking the time to talk with me in your first year-ender as Opposition leader.
Naheed Nenshi: Thanks for having me and we found a nice spot for it here at the Citadel [Theatre].
So, let's have a look back at the last year. It's been a big year for you. I think you went into last year not expecting to be where you are right now.
Oh, that is very true.
When you had the leadership vote, you won a a large number of votes in the leadership contest, it was just an overwhelming majority. But you're succeeding a very popular Rachel Notley as leader as she grew the NDP substantially during her time, her decade, as leader. So, how do you follow her and make your own mark on the party?
That's the question she herself is asking these days, because it's great to have her still around as my senior adviser. And look, she's a once-in-a-lifetime politician. What she was able to do is extraordinary.
But I also think that it's important for us to understand that, well, we didn't win that last election and as a result, we have a premier and a government now who are doing irreparable harm to Albertans. So, it's time for us to really ask in dealing with real issues.
WATCH | Nenshi discusses what lies ahead for Alberta NDP in 2025:
And look, I'm not going to pretend that I'm some Athenian in my robe, and it's going to be high-minded democracy. You ever watch a city council meeting? You'll know there's a lot of back and forth. Sometimes there's stuff that you're not too proud to show Grade 6 kids.
But ultimately you're rowing in a direction to try and make the city better. And I'm just not seeing that from this government.
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