Roundup: Rachel Notley announces her departure

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In a move that has been expected for over a month now, Alberta NDP leader and former premier Rachel Notley announced that she’ll step down as soon as her replacement is chosen, and no, she has absolutely ambition to run federally. It’s probably a good thing that Notley has decided enough is enough, thus avoiding becoming another Andrea Horwath, and frankly, considering how she managed to lose the debate against Danielle Smith, and from there the election, well, it was probably time to call it a day and let a fresher face take over.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Notley’s time in Alberta politics was transformational—even though her rise to government was largely accidental (voters looking to punish Jim Prentice’s PC government for having the temerity to tell them to “look in the mirror” about demanding high services and low taxes had no other options as the provincial Liberals’ leader just bailed and the Wildrose were decimated after Danielle Smith crossed the floor with most of their MLAs), she managed to run a government that was reasonably competent in a province where one-party rule had left them corrupt and unable to do things like come up with realistic budgets that didn’t involve throwing money at problems. She did what every NDP organisation dreams of and decimated the provincial Liberal party, forcing the centrist voters in the province to her banner by running more to the centre herself, and essentially turning the province into a two-party race. But it’s also notable how her success also had a lot to do with moving away from standard NDP dogma.

Here are some reactions to her announcement (and I thought Jagmeet Singh’s was especially hilarious considering how she spent most of her time in office distancing herself from him), a few biographical details, and a look at her legacy.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Unsurprisingly, the higher intensity of Russian attacks led to a sharp increase in civilian deaths over December. Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos to drum up more support from partners, and met with Antony Blinken while he was there. (No doubt Conservatives in Canada are going to hold this attendance at Davos against him, because conspiracy theories).

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1747261931164192849

Good reads:

  • At a Montreal event, Trudeau said that they are preparing for a possible second Trump presidency, and that Americans have a choice between optimism or retreat.
  • Trudeau also announced that there will be a Cabinet retreat in Montreal next week.
  • The government has needed to clarify their position on South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ because everyone was misreading their previous statements.
  • The current Liberal government is trying to distance itself from the revelations that the Chrétien-led government conspired with Australia to weaken UNDRIP.
  • Mark Holland has been calling up US counterparts to warn them against trying to raid Canada’s drug supplies.
  • The government is putting in new rules that it won’t fund strategically important research that engages partnerships over 100 institutions in Russia, China or Iran.
  • There was concern that these new rules could create a chill within certain ethnic communities and rattle some bilateral relations.
  • StatsCan reported that inflation ticked up, but much of this was base-year effect and probably shouldn’t mean panicking just yet.
  • National Defence is looking to hire two journalists to “role play” so they can train comms staff, no doubt to learn how to better avoid answering questions.
  • Two senior civil servants have been suspended without pay in connection to contracting practices around the ArriveCan app.
  • More Liberal MPs from Toronto are sounding off about mayor Olivia Chow’s attempt to blackmail the federal government for more money.
  • Former minister Carolyn Bennett is being named the new ambassador to Denmark.
  • There is consternation in Ottawa that the process for the government to dispose of properties that could be used for housing is taking a long time—possibly years.
  • Susan Delacourt notes the Liberals attempt to weaponise the Conservatives’ votes against the Ukraine, and says that Zelenskyy has noticed those votes.
  • Paul Wells tries to suss out the Conservatives’ thinking on the Ukraine question, and how the government is comporting itself around that.
  • My column worries about the precedent that Olivia Chow is setting in her attempt to blackmail the federal government for more money for Toronto.

Odds and Ends:

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