NDP MLA Kathleen Ganley visited Medicine Hat on Thursday to discuss local issues with area party members who are preparing for the 2027 provincial election.--News photo Collin Gallant
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Alberta New Democrats are looking to bridge the gap between their level of support in cities and rural areas, including in Alberta’s southeast.
MLA Kathleen Ganley was in Medicine Hat on Thursday to discuss local issues and meet with party members who she says are gaining in number.
The goal is to build on gains, “build the party up and retain that momentum,” toward the 2027 provincial election, Ganley told the News.
“We performed very well in Edmonton (in 2023), and better than historically by winning half the seats in Calgary, but we haven’t done as well outside those two major centres,” said Ganley, also mentioning a seat in Lethbridge and Banff-Kananaskis.
“On a values level – health care, education and economy that works for everyone – those are values of the people of Medicine Hat, but somehow there’s a disconnect with voting patterns.
“We’re looking at how to connect that and get more people engaged and hopeful.”
She also criticized the current UCP government for a lack of action to shore up agricultural communities that could be hit hard in a tariff dispute with the United States.
United Conservatives are highlighting support from rural communities and industries, along with infrastructure announcements, in the recently proposed budget.
“The UCP sees (tariffs) as a political opportunity, but it’s going to hurt people at the ground level,” said Ganley, the MLA for Calgary-Mountain View.
She is currently the head of “engagement” for the NDP caucus after serving as energy critic in opposition and justice minister under Rachel Notley’s government.
She notes her party has increased its share of votes cast in two area ridings – Brooks-Medicine Hat and Cypress-Medicine Hat – since 2019, both in a byelection and general election.
That improved the party’s performance from securing about one-quarter of votes in 2019 to one-third in 2023, but the United Conservative support has remained above 60 per cent, giving them clear victories.
Albertans will next go to the polls in a general election in 2027.
At that time ridings could also look different, depending on the outcome of the Electoral Boundaries Commission, which is about to begin studying how best to balance the population of ridings and potentially move boundaries ahead of the next election.
“We’re encouraging members of the community to come forward (to present to the commission),” said Ganley, who said recent changes voted in by the government specifically remove maintaining “municipal boundaries” in the commission’s consideration.
“That’s a concern because it looks a lot like gerrymandering,” she added, as it could result in more hybrid urban-rural ridings, like those created in Medicine Hat area ahead of the 2019 election.
In 2015, the strictly urban “Medicine Hat” riding elected NDP candidate Bob Wanner by a slim margin in a three-way race over Wildrose and Progressive Conservative candidates.
The following round of electoral boundary changes before the 2019 election divided the city’s population evenly between Brooks-Medicine Hat and Cypress-Medicine Hat.
Committee members nominated by the Wildrose Party, the opposition party at the time, also stressed putting a premium on maintaining rural ridings (where population was generally decreasing) at the same ratio to urban ridings (which had growing populations).
The current process is to be headed up by locally based Court of King’s Bench Justice Dallas Miller as chairperson.
The government and opposition caucuses will each nominate two other members to the five-person commission.
Sitting MLAs cannot serve on the panel, which will release a draft proposal and then a final proposal before it is presented to the legislature for approval.
