(Alberta NDP/YouTube)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

CORE MESSAGE, 2024 WINS

Naheed Nenshi addresses 2025 NDP Provincial Council

Feb 4, 2025 | 12:37 PM

Naheed Nenshi, leader of Alberta’s New Democrat Party (NDP), addressed party wins from the last year and priorities moving forward in a presentation to the 2025 NDP Provincial Council on Feb. 1, held at the Red Deer Resort and Casino.

Nenshi began by paying tribute to former NDP leader Raj Pannu, who retired from politics in 2008 and died at the age of 91 at the end of January.

He then provided a picture of where the party stands today, sharing that 2024 was a record-breaking year for the party, with 87,000 members registered by the end of the year. At the time of Nenshi’s speech, 12,500 of those members had renewed their membership and in January, 500 new members joined.

He also celebrated Rob Miyashiro’s win in the Lethbridge-West by-election that took place on Dec. 18, 2024. Nenshi attributed the NDP’s success to a combination of factors including having the right message, the right team, and the right candidate.

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Much of the rest of the speech was used to remind party members of NDP priorities amidst criticism of the current UCP government’s actions.

Nenshi expressed concern about the state of the economy, health care, education and environmental protections, citing the premier’s former promise to fix health care in 90 days; that was nearly 900 days ago.

He said the current government is “making it up as they go along with the most expensive and important service we provide.”

The NDP Leader also claimed that real wages have dropped by 4.5 per cent since the UCP came into power, causing Alberta to drop below Quebec and B.C. in this regard.

Finally, he criticized the UCP’s January decision to reverse a coal moratorium that was put in place to protect the Rocky Mountains and Eastern Slopes after public outcry in 2022.

Nenshi then pivoted to look forward to the next provincial election, and the NDP’s efforts moving forward.

“For them, winning is the goal. For us, winning is the start line, because winning is what we need to do to make Alberta better for all of us.”

He said more than anything, the party needs to believe they will win the next election, and concluded with their core message.

“We, Alberta’s New Democrats, are focused on building prosperity for everyone, investing in public health care and education, and making life more affordable so all Albertans can thrive.”

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