Calgary's former mayor made a campaign stop in Okotoks this week.
Over 100 people packed the Crystal Shores Beach House on April 17 to hear from Naheed Nenshi, who spoke about his Alberta NDP leadership platform.
"Our policy platform, the agenda for Albertans, has to be co-created with the caucus and with the members of the party as we're trying to bring forth to Albertans something that appeals to them," he said.
Nenshi discussed healthcare, one of the most pressing issues in the province for Alberta NDP members.
"I think that there are very few Albertans who would disagree with the following statement: 'Alberta Health Services needs reforms,'" he said. "But I think there are very few Albertans who would agree with the following statement: 'I trust Danielle Smith and [Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange].'
"So at some point, we're going to have to inherit whatever mess they created and start to go back to a real values-based system to say, 'how do we create a patient-centred system that cares about the people that work in the system, that is a healthcare system, not a sickness care system, that is more than just catching people when they fall?'
"Those are hard questions. They're going to take hard answers. They're going to take open minds and open hearts and a lot of money."
He added that his experience as mayor of Calgary from 2010 to 2021 has equipped him with the fundraising and financial management skills needed to serve as premier and come up with solutions to difficult problems.
Having run three successful mayoral campaigns, Nenshi stressed the importance of engaging with constituents across the province.
"I have a criticism of the Alberta NDP from 2015 to 2024. It's that we have not been present everywhere in Alberta, and we need to be present everywhere in Alberta," he said.
"We need not think that when you go south of Stoney Trail into Highwood, suddenly things have completely changed. We need to be able to show people that the values that they believe in are the values that we believe in."
Nenshi, who spent some of his youth in Red Deer County, added his thoughts on the terminology for towns and cities outside of Alberta's urban centres.
"You'll notice I haven't said 'rural Alberta,'" he said. "I actually am trying not to use that term, because I don't think that a nurse in Red Deer thinks of herself as rural. I don't think that a oilfield worker in Fort McMurray thinks of themselves as rural. Certainly the people in Okotoks probably don't think of themselves as rural Albertans."
He further emphasized his intention to campaign vigorously across Alberta during the leadership race and, if elected leader, the 2027 provincial election.
"President Obama famously in 2008 had a 50-state strategy," said Nenshi, who made a similar point in a previous interview with the Western Wheel. "We have to have an 87-riding strategy, and we have to find pockets of support everywhere, because remember, outside of Calgary and Edmonton, the NDP got 35 per cent of the vote."
Nenshi's appearance in Okotoks was part of the Highwood NDP constituency association's 'Meet the Candidates' series, following appearances by Kathleen Ganley, Sarah Hoffman and former candidate Rakhi Pancholi, who exited the race and joined Nenshi's campaign in March.
The former Mount Royal professor is considered by many to be the race's front-runner. He has received the most endorsements both from Alberta NDP MLAs and members of the public, including from singer-songwriter Jann Arden and actor Andrew Phung, and is widely assumed to be responsible for the party's massive boost in membership.
According to Pancholi, the Alberta NDP's membership "more than doubled" the week after Nenshi launched his campaign on March 11.
Nenshi said the number of Alberta NDP members is now over five times greater than it was at the start of the year, but when asked if he considers himself the front-runner, he insists that he's uncertain.
"In a ranked ballot scenario, anything could happen," he said.
Nenshi is up against MLAs Ganley, Hoffman and Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, and Alberta Federation of Labour leader Gil McGowan.
The results of the leadership race will be announced on June 22 at an event in Calgary.
