Picture of NDP Deputy Leader Rahki Pancholi addressing gathered members at the Elks Lodge on Sunday. News Photo: Anna Smith
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
The Medicine Hat NDP stuck to tradition and hosted their annual AGM on the coldest day in January, getting their fresh start for 2025 on Sunday.
The Elks Lodge enjoyed a full house for the meeting, with many members standing in the back as they went over the business for the year as well as welcomed Deputy Leader Rahki Pancholi to speak to the assembled crowd.
In 2024, noted now-former president Gwendoline Dirk, was a good year for the constituency association, which oversees both the Brooks-Medicine Hat and Cypress-Medicine Hat ridings.
“When we started planning for this AGM, we decided that we’re not waiting until we get close to the election in 2027, we are going to start the groundwork for victory now,” said Dirk, “And we have. I have to say that I am so impressed with the work that this association has done.”
Over the course of the year, the association has hosted talks from many prominent members of the NDP, including Naheed Nenshi, Sarah Hoffman, David Shepard and Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, among many others.
They also supported various community events and worked on their outreach both in person and over social media, to begin the work of being present and having conversations with members of the community well before the election.
This, said Pancholi, is part of how modern campaigns work, and part of how they will start to be able to better position themselves as the provincial government of the future.
“It’s really, really important that when we put forward our ideas, I hope you will see a marked change from maybe what you’ve seen in the past,” said Pancholi. “What I mean by that is you may have seen a lot of messaging that comes out from the Alberta NDP that has been focused those big urban centres. We really need to focus on making sure that we are representing the local issues that matter to all of you.”
She stressed the importance, moving forward, of making sure that they are not only courting the major cities, where they have a strong following already, but in making it clear that the party represents and will work for those in smaller cities and rural areas as well, even if those specific ridings don’t choose to elect an NDP MLA.
“We can’t be going into our little camps and refusing to accept anything or any ideas from the other team,” said Pancholi. “That’s not a productive way to govern, and it’s not a productive way to live.”
Joining this fight locally is the new executive team for the constituency association, consisting of president Adam Benn, vice-president Gilles Blouin, treasurer Dane McIsaac and recording secretary Emily Howe.
Alongside them are 12 directors; Michelle Sauve, Adrian Castillo, Anna Hansen, Brandon Eggleston, Joanne Hamel, Shyloh-Dawn Bonogofski, Judy Fredeen, Cathy Linowski, Bobbie Elhart, Kaleigh McArthur, Gwendoline Dirk and Amanda Neilson.
“We’re going to move forward with the attitude that in 2027 are we going to have at least one Alberta NDP, MLA join the legislature, with our leader and next premier, Naheed Nenshi,” said Dirk. “We can do this.”
