Osgoode Hall Law School of York University Osgoode Digital Commons Media Mentions News and Public Relations 10-4-2016 Judge Drops $65,000 in Fines Against Former Homeless Man Toronto Star Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/media_mentions Recommended Citation . "Judge Drops $65,000 in Fines Against Former Homeless Man." Toronto Star (04 October 2016): https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/media_mentions/50 This Media Mention is brought to you for free and open access by the News and Public Relations at Osgoode Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Media Mentions by an authorized administrator of Osgoode Digital Commons. NOTLEY'S WAY; RACHEL NOTLEY WAS 20 YEARS OLD WHEN HER FATHER, THE FOUNDER OF THE NDP IN ALBERTA, DIED IN A PLANE CRASH. HER HISTORIC ELECTION AS PREMIER THIS WEEK IS A PROFOUND CODA TO HIS STORY, GARY MASON WRITES, AND A TESTAMENT TO HER OWN DETERMINATION The Globe and Mail Sat May 9 2015 Page: F1 Section: Focus Byline: GARY MASON Dateline: EDMONTON Rachel Notley was in her suite at the downtown Westin hotel going over the victory speech she would deliver to the crush of supporters waiting floors below her. She had been imagining this moment for days, and she was aware of the lines near the end of her address that had the potential to make her eyes well up and her voice catch. So she went over them until she felt confident she could stand before her jubilant tribe and the bank of cameras and calmly thank the two people whose role in her shocking political victory was so crucial. "Tonight, I also want to say that I'm also thinking about my mother and father," she began. "I know my mother would be completely over the moon about this. I think my dad would too." Alberta's New Democratic Party leader and premier-designate vaulted to the forefront of the Canadian political conversation this week as a result of her party's once-unimaginable triumph. Not only did Ms. Notley's New Democrats end the reign of one of the most storied political dynasties in the country's history, the Progressive Conservatives, they utterly annihilated it. The NDP now takes control of a province that Canadians have long identified as the country's conservative heartland. The challenges Ms. Notley faces in building a new government are vast. Those who have been there before suggest she proceed with extreme caution. Better to take your time and get things right, former Saskatchewan NDP premier Roy Romanow and others have counselled, than make hasty mistakes in the name of artificial deadlines. Ms. Notley currently has a 53-person caucus in which only four MLAs, including herself, have previous provincial political experience. The learning curve for all political newcomers is ridiculously steep: they need to figure out everything from parliamentary procedure to finding the washrooms. From this inexperienced group she must fashion a cabinet that will have to deal with the many pressing issues the province is now wrestling with - not the least of which is a slumping oil economy. There is much riding on Ms. Notley's ability to get things right; many inside the province and across the country are suspicious of her plans. Those closest to the new premier acknowledge she is in a unique situation: the head of a centre-left government with custodial duties over an energy economy. How will she reconcile environmental promises with economic assets that can't be frittered away? To those outside the province, Ms. Notley, 51, is an unknown commodity. But in the coming years she is almost certainly going to become a national figure; it goes with being premier of the economic engine of the country. Even now, many Canadians are intrigued by this little-known prairie politician who has seemingly arrived on the national scene out of nowhere. Grant Notley: A political trailblazer The Notley name is deeply ingrained in Alberta's political past. "She's a child of the party in a way that few of our leaders are," says federal NDP strategist Brian Topp; he was in charge of messaging and communications during the campaign. Ms. Notley's father, Grant, helped found the NDP in Alberta in the early 1960s. For 11 years, beginning in 1971, he sat as the only NDP member of the Alberta legislature. Mr. Notley would become widely respected for his relentless advocacy on behalf of the less fortunate, and his dogged determination to make the NDP relevant in a province that seemed to only have an appetite for a conservative-minded agenda. That didn't stop Mr. Notley from demanding more dollars for health care, education and the poor. In 1982 he was finally joined in the legislature by another NDP MLA, Ray Martin. It was enough to make the party the official opposition - something to build on. It all ended abruptly in October of 1984. Mr. Notley was aboard a small plane that crashed in poor weather conditions; he and four others were killed. Rachel was a 20-year-old undergrad at the University of Alberta in Edmonton when she received a call at 4 a.m. It was her father's executive assistant, informing her that there had been a crash and that she should go back to her family's house. Her two younger brothers, Paul and Stephen, were there. Mr. Martin later phoned and told Rachel that her father had died. She would have to tell her mother. Grant Notley was revered by friends and foes alike. Those who knew him were struck by had dedicated he was to the NDP, despite the absence of support for the party in Alberta. It never deterred him from attending gatherings that sometimes would only draw a handful of people. Thousands attended his funeral, including politicians from across the country. In a general election two years later, the NDP soared to 16 seats - a surge everyone credited to Mr. Notley's years of tireless work. Still, his goal of seeing an NDP government one day take over in the province seemed an impossible dream. 'She was bright, but not impulsive' Rachel Notley has often said it was her mother, Sandy - who died in 1998 - who helped her develop a deep social conscience. Sandy was a no-nonsense Christian, originally from Massachusetts, who imbued in her daughter the biblical principle that you do unto others as you would have them do unto you. When Rachel was a young child, her mother read her the tale of Robin Hood, and told her that the story reflected Grant's political philosophy. In that same spirit, she was taking Rachel to protest marches before she was 10. After finishing high school, Rachel went to Paris and worked as an au pair while learning French. She later studied political science at her father's alma mater, and quarrelled with her dad often during her early university years. "He was very cheap," Stephen says. "When she was going to university, he had her on an allowance of sorts, but it was very strict and so they would argue all the time." After finishing her B.A. Rachel moved to Toronto to continue her studies, attending Osgoode Hall Law School. She also cofounded, and served as president of an NDP student club, according to a 2007 interview in The Edmonton Journal. "She was always very connected to the NDP, wherever she was," Stephen recalls. Kim Nayyer, a law librarian at the University of Victoria, met Ms. Notley at that NDP student club. (Stephen Lewis's daughter Ilana was also a member.) Ms. Nayyer, who grew up in the northern Alberta community of Peace River, knew of Rachel's father and his political legacy. "Grant Notley was a very prominent, very well-liked MLA," she says. "He worked hard. He was out there a lot. He was respectful. I see Rachel exhibiting the same ... characteristics that he displayed - the hard work, the honesty, the graciousness and the humour." After law school, Rachel became a legal advocate for workers in Alberta and British Columbia, representing them on health and safety issues and on worker compensation claims. In B.C., she also worked as a ministerial assistant to former NDP premier Ujjal Dosanjh, then the attorney general. He remembers an aide who was sure of herself, but not closed-minded. "She was very politically savvy," says Mr. Dosanjh. "She was bright but not impulsive. Everyone knew she was Grant's daughter. She had great political smarts. She was a wonderful sounding board. And just really, really likeable." Along the way, she would also marry Lou Arab, a communications officer with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and have two children. In the 2008 Alberta election, Ms. Notley decided to take what seemed like an inevitable plunge into politics, winning the NDP's nomination in Edmonton-Strathcona by acclamation. She and then-party leader Brian Mason would be the only two New Democrats elected to the provincial legislature that year. It was a lonely time for the pair but Mr. Mason knew the rookie sitting beside him had special qualities. "In the time we worked together she picked up every skill you can think of," Mr. Mason said in an interview. "She is very quick on her feet and that's really important in this business. She also has an outgoing and warm personality which will also help her when dealing with the public. And she's really fun to be around. "The one thing I struggled to teach her was how to heckle in the legislature.