51 Facts About Rachel Notley

Rachel Anne Notley was born on April 17,1964 and is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who was the 17th premier of Alberta from 2015 to 2019 and leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party from 2014 to 2024.

The daughter of former Alberta NDP leader Grant Rachel Notley, she was a lawyer before entering politics; she focused on labour law, with a specialty in workers' compensation advocacy and workplace health and safety issues.

Rachel Notley was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2008 provincial election, succeeding former NDP leader Raj Pannu.

On January 16,2024, Rachel Notley announced her plans to step down as leader of the Alberta NDP, but she would remain leader until a successor was elected on June 22.

Rachel Notley returned to practising labour law following her resignation.

Rachel Notley was born on April 17,1964, in Edmonton, Alberta, and was raised outside of the town of Fairview, Alberta, the daughter of Sandra Mary "Sandy" and Alberta NDP Leader and MLA Grant Rachel Notley.

Rachel Notley is the first Alberta premier to be born in Edmonton.

Rachel Notley's mother, a devout Anglican, was born in Concord, Massachusetts, and moved to Alberta as an adult.

Rachel Notley remained unsure about whether or not to enter public office until she was in her 30s.

Alongside her own family background, Rachel Notley has cited her high school social studies teacher Jim Clevette as having made a lasting impact when it comes to her interest in politics.

Rachel Notley has claimed Jack Layton as being a personal hero.

Rachel Notley was a twenty-year-old undergraduate at the University of Alberta when her father died on October 19,1984.

Rachel Notley earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Alberta, and a law degree at Osgoode Hall Law School.

Rachel Notley is a cyclist, jogger, and skier, as well as a reformed smoker.

In 1994, Rachel Notley moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where she worked for the Health Sciences Association of BC as their occupational health and safety officer.

Rachel Notley acted as a representative of the provincial labour movement in the negotiation and drafting of new workplace health and safety standards.

Rachel Notley is a past board member of the Vancouver Community College.

Rachel Notley worked for a short time for the National Union of Public and General Employees, worked at Athabasca University, acted as volunteer co-ordinator for the Friends of Medicare "Romanow Now" campaign, and finally as a labour relations officer for the United Nurses of Alberta.

Rachel Notley did volunteer work with the Strathcona Community League in 2006, assisting with a drive to garner support for the installation of sidewalks in east Strathcona.

In 1991, Rachel Notley led the election-planning subcommittee for the Alberta NDP.

In 2000, after the resignation of Pam Barrett as the Alberta NDP leader and MLA for Edmonton-Highlands, Rachel Notley re-entered Alberta provincial politics.

Rachel Notley travelled to Edmonton to assist Brian Mason in retaining the seat for the Alberta NDP.

Rachel Notley was elected as an MLA in the 2008 Alberta provincial election.

Rachel Notley was re-elected in the 2012 Alberta provincial election.

Rachel Notley defeated fellow MLA David Eggen and union leader Rod Loyola on the first ballot.

Rachel Notley had managed to capitalize on the unpopularity of the PCs' budget, stating that she would instead raise corporate taxes and rollback fees and cuts.

The sole televised leaders' debate proved to be a turning point, with Rachel Notley largely viewed as having the best performance.

Rachel Notley held her first caucus meeting as Premier-designate on May 9,2015.

Three days later, Rachel Notley announced that she would be retaining the previous head of the Alberta public service, Richard Dicerni, as well as appointing NDP party strategists Brian Topp and Adrienne King as her chief of staff and deputy chief of staff, respectively.

Rachel Notley met with outgoing Premier Jim Prentice that same day, in addition to extending the deadline for the province's school boards to submit their budgets, her first major deviation from the previous Progressive Conservative government's financial commitments as Premier-designate.

On May 22,2015, Rachel Notley suspended Calgary-Bow MLA Deborah Drever from the Alberta NDP caucus after a series of controversial postings by Drever were discovered on social media websites such as Instagram and Facebook.

Rachel Notley had previously announced that she had directed Drever, as a result of the media attention, to create a plan to improve education on violence against women, particularly outreach to groups working with vulnerable young women.

Rachel Notley was sworn in as the 17th premier of Alberta along with her cabinet on May 24,2015.

That same day Rachel Notley announced the creation of a seventeen-member all-party committee tasked to look into ways to improve government accountability in areas such as whistleblower protection, electioneering, and conflicts of interest.

On June 22,2015, Rachel Notley apologized to the Aboriginal community of Alberta for a long history of neglect by prior governments.

Rachel Notley pledged that her government would engage and improve living conditions of Alberta's Aboriginal community.

On December 8,2015, Rachel Notley tweeted out her support of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement that a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls would be immediately launched.

On December 15,2015, Rachel Notley expressed her support for the recommendations outlined in the Truth and Reconciliation Committee's final report.

On November 22,2015, Rachel Notley unveiled Alberta's updated climate change strategy, in time for the COP 21 conference in Paris.

In 2017, the Rachel Notley government resumed addressing the proliferation of abandoned wells by budgeting $235 million for the Orphan Well Association to begin land reclamation and rehabilitation of thousands of orphan wells in the province.

Rachel Notley's government chose this as retaliation for BC premier John Horgan's government decision to limit export of Bitumen from Alberta as protest to ongoing discussion of the proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion.

In 2015, Rachel Notley's government froze tuition fees for post-secondary students.

In 2016, to fulfill her campaign promise, Rachel Notley's government implemented a pilot program aimed at providing Alberta's neediest children with nutritious sustenance lunch programs.

In October 2016 Rachel Notley visited the construction site of the first rebuilt house.

Rachel Notley rededicated an overpass crossing Highway 63, where first responders had welcomed residents home, as 'Responders Way Bridge'.

Rachel Notley was the subject of 412 harassment communiques, of which 26 were investigated by law enforcement.

Rachel Notley pledged on election night to continue serving as Leader of the Opposition.

In December 2019, Rachel Notley announced that she intended to lead the Alberta NDP into the next general election held in May 2023.

On January 16,2024, Rachel Notley announced plans to step down as leader of the Alberta NDP.

Rachel Notley was succeeded as leader of the Alberta NDP by Naheed Nenshi on June 22,2024.

Rachel Notley resigned from the legislature effective December 30,2024, and retired from politics.