Grant Notley was the only NDP member of the Alberta legislature for more than a decade. He was first elected in 1971 and joined by Edmonton MLA Ray Martin in the 1982 election when the two became the Official Opposition, facing a Progressive Conservative caucus of 75 under Peter Lougheed. In October 1984, Notley and five other passengers were killed in a plane crash in northern Alberta.
Twenty-four years later his daughter Rachel entered the Legislative Assembly as the NDP MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona , was elected party leader in 2014 and became the Premier of Alberta in a stunning electoral upset over a long-dominant PC party and the far-right Wildrose in May, 2015.
What kind of politician was Grant Notley? And what kind of social democrat? How was he inspired by the radical politics of his time, and how do they compare to Rachel Notley’s NDP in 2019? On episode 32 of the podcast, Team Advantage compares and contrasts the members of Alberta’s only social-democratic dynasty, and gives careful consideration to their theory of social and political change.
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