The Alberta politics merry-go-round continued to spin Wednesday as a Calgary MLA announced she would leave the NDP government caucus to sit as an Independent.
“Albertans need political choices that inspire them, not scare them,” she said on Facebook.
In an interview, McPherson said she has great regard for her former NDP colleagues but acknowledged she felt the government was not taking the steps needed to transform the health and education systems for the 21st century.
She said she had raised her concerns in the past but Premier Rachel Notley’s government is focused on fulfilling what it sees as its electoral mandate.
McPherson said she will consult with her constituents about her future path. She said it’s way too early to contemplate moving to another party — both the Liberals and Alberta Party hold a single seat in the legislature — but laughed at the notion of joining the right-wing United Conservative Party, newly formed by the merger of the Wildrose and Progressive Conservatives.
Her concerns about polarization echoed those of Calgary-South East MLA Rick Fraser, a former PC who announced in September he was leaving the UCP to sit as an Independent. McPherson said she was inspired in part by Fraser’s move and had reached out to him last month to show her support.
“I knew that what he did took a great deal of gumption,” she said.
Fraser was the second Tory MLA to remove himself from the UCP since its creation this summer, with Vermilion-Lloydminster’s Richard Starke choosing to continue on under the PC brand.
While the Alberta Party and Liberals remain at odds with each other, the shifts of the various MLAs has fuelled talk about centrists coalescing around a single party.
Both Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark and Liberal Leader David Khan said they had no inkling of McPherson’s departure from the NDP but hoped to talk to the MLA about her plans.
“I do think there is a realignment happening,” said Clark, the MLA for Calgary-Elbow.
“On the right, I think they’re becoming quite radicalized . . . and with the left there is some deep concerns with the competency of the NDP and their commitment to southern Alberta,” said the Calgary lawyer.
McPherson’s departure drew a muted response from the NDP government, with the offices of both Notley and house leader Brian Mason declining to comment.
A spokesperson for the premier pointed to comments by Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley, who was asked about McPherson’s move at a Calgary news conference.
The move means the NDP holds 54 seats to the UCP’s 27, with one Alberta Party, one Liberal, one PC and three Independents.
Strathmore-Brooks MLA Derek Fildebrandt is also sitting as an Independent after resigning from the United Conservative caucus in August after questions arose over his expenses and it was revealed he rented out his taxpayer-subsidized apartment. However, he has expressed his desire to rejoin the UCP.