THESE THINGS SHOULD BE KNOWN.

From Sarah Hoffman's tribute to #Rachel_Notley, soon to be past leader of the #Alberta #NDP

"This evening, Rachel Notley will make her final speech as Leader of the Alberta NDP. I have been honoured to work alongside her for 16 years, since she was first elected in a caucus of two. I was the Research Director and Rachel loved research. In 2010, Rachel and Lou supported me when I ran for the Edmonton Public School Board on a platform to keep neighbourhood schools open.

But it was 2015 when I got to know Rachel on a different level. Rachel became Alberta’s first NDP Premier and made me her Minister of Health and later, her Deputy Premier and Deputy Leader. I am honoured by the trust she put in me.

I am incredibly proud of what we achieved during our four-year term in government. The last coal-fired power station went offline in Alberta this week: that was because of us. Hundreds of thousands of students are studying in the schools we built and renovated. The Castle Provincial Park is a lasting legacy of the Notley Government, to be enjoyed by generations to come.

We were a different kind of government. We raised minimum wage. We protected 2SLGBTQ+ kids. We cut child poverty in half:something that Rachel is particularly proud of. We invested in public health care and stopped attempts to privatize it further. We built the new Calgary Cancer Centre, a new emergency room at the Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton, opened urgent care centres in Sylvan Lake and Airdrie. We built the first public long-term care facilities in a generation.

It was exhilarating to be part of the team that Rachel built. Our leadership on climate attracted investment in wind and solar energy, the kind of investment that is being chased away by the current government. We piloted affordable childcare before the federal government decided to support it. Five Alberta First Nations could finally stop boiling their water and the Lubicon Lake Nation finally achieved an agreement and land-base.

Whether she was in government or opposition, Rachel has always put the interests of Albertans first. We will miss her leadership. Our job now is to build on her legacy by focusing on bold, NDP policies, that will help us win in 2027."