Phillips says Nenshi will hit the ground running
By Lethbridge Herald on June 26, 2025.
Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald
Former Lethbridge West MLA Shannon Phillips is confident Naheed Nenshi will be able to quickly position himself as the leader of Alberta’s official opposition after winning the Edmonton-Strathcona byelection this week.
“Nenshi achieved a very strong endorsement from the people in Edmonton-Strathcona, just as the party did under his leadership in the Lethbridge-West byelection,” says Phillips, now a partner in Meredith, Boessenkool and Phillips Policy Advisors. “It is an extremely important role in our democracy to hold the government to account, and there is no substitute to being directly across from the government and holding them to account as the voters sent you there to do.”
While some who aren’t involved in politics might not consider the byelection win a big deal – Nenshi has been the leader of Alberta’s New Democratic Party for the past year, after all – Phillips says the fact that he has a seat in the Alberta Legislature makes a significant difference. He now has all the resources of the official opposition to draw on to make sure the public is informed about what the government is doing and what the NDP would do differently.
As opposition leader, Nenshi’s key roles will include leading the question period, which is the part of the Legislature’s daily activities that Albertans get to see on television.Â
“Over the years, there has been many politicians that have been very effective at this,” says Phillips. “Pierre Poilievre was very effective as a leader doing this; Rachel Notley was always extremely effective.”
She adds that once Nenshi is in the Legislature, he will be just as effective as Notley was at using procedure, the legislative process and committees.Â
“He will have a full appreciation for how all of that works now that he has been able to observe it from the outside and now, he will be able to do it from the inside.”
Phillips says Nenshi will have the opportunity to highlight government waste and lack of accountability. He’ll also use all the resources available to the official opposition to do freedom of information requests, dig into government action or inaction and be the voice of the voters who sent him to Edmonton to hold the UCP government to account.
Phillips points out that Premier Danielle Smith waited to the last possible second to call the byelection after Notley stepped down from government back in December of 2024, saying Smith has no respect for the institutions of democracy.Â
“It is tradition that the official opposition leader is brought into the House as soon as possible,” says Phillips. “You will see this with how Mark Carney deals with the fact that Pierre Poilievre, as a loser who lost his seat, is now going to benefit from Carney having class and calling the byelection for the official opposition leader as soon as the timeframe allows.”Â
That stands in stark contrast with Smith, who forced Nenshi to wait six months.
“She has no respect for the role of the official opposition leader, even though she was one,” says Phillips. “And that shows you everything you need to know, because the government should not be afraid of accountability.”
Delaying the byelection and keeping Nenshi out of the Legislature was a demonstration of weakness on Smith’s part, she adds.
“She was afraid of him,” says Phillips. “And ultimately Albertans and specifically the people of Edmonton-Strathcona suffered because of it, just like the people from Lethbridge West suffered for six months waiting for that byelection” that eventually saw Rob Miyashiro replace Phillips as MLA.
NDP wins in two of three byelections on June 23 was a huge accomplishment, she adds, including coming in second in the strongly conservative riding of Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills.
“I think there is two reasons for that. In the last legislative session, Alberta’s NDP focused on health care and the health care procurement scandal, and people know that they can trust Alberta’s NDP on health care.”
It was also in response to Smith openly embracing “dangerous and downright ridiculous notions” of Alberta separatism, while Nenshi has been very clear and forceful in his response, she says.
Now Nenshi needs to focus on three priorities once the Legislative Assembly goes back in session, says Phillips.
“Number one is protecting our public health care system from the chaos Danielle Smith has caused.”
Second, she adds, Nenshi needs to focus on making life more affordable for Albertans, instead of what the government is doing by distracting Albertans with unhelpful conversations about separatism that only serve to undermine the province’s economy and its ability to make life more affordable for people.Â
“And number three has got to be public education. As a parent, I am extremely concerned about the future of public education, about how we treat teachers and school staff, how we fund education.”
23-22
Keep on running right down to Nicaragua, where your socialist ideals fit well!
You are watered down communists, who only know how to attack anything good for this province, while spewing division! NDP is full of give me, give me, give me’s along with lets all get high on drugs, shutting down major project that pay for the give me’s and the high cost of the druggies!
Keep on running, run fast!