Four Alberta NDP members won't seek re-election in 2027
Joe Ceci, Marlin Schmidt, Lori Sigurdson, and Luanne Metz announced Saturday they will leave the legislature after the next provincial election.
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Four longtime Alberta NDP members, including three who were first elected in 2015 when the party won majority support, announced Saturday they will not seek re-election in 2027.
Joe Ceci, Marlin Schmidt, and Lori Sigurdson were all elected in 2015 and served as cabinet ministers under former Premier Rachel Notley. Ceci, the Calgary-Buffalo MLA, was finance minister and spent 15 years on Calgary city council. Schmidt represented Edmonton-Gold Bar as minister of advanced education, while Sigurdson, the Edmonton-Riverview member, served as minister of seniors and housing.
Dr. Luanne Metz, elected in 2023, represents Calgary-Varsity. The NDP says she shaped the party's "vision for strengthening the province's public health-care system." Metz was a professor and researcher at the University of Calgary before entering politics.
The four will remain in their roles until the end of their current term. NDP leader Naheed Nenshi thanked them for their service: "There is no doubt they will continue to contribute to their communities in meaningful ways in the years ahead."
The announcement came from the NDP's spring provincial council meeting held Saturday. Twenty-one candidates have already been nominated for the next provincial election, and nomination dates for the four departing members' ridings are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
The departures follow recent exits from the UCP government, including ministers Nate Horner and Matt Jones, who said they would not run again amid debate over a provincial separation referendum.