The MLA for Calgary-McKay-Nose Hill will no longer sit as an independent, the Alberta Party said, as she had become the second member of the party to have a seat in the legislature.
The party announced Monday that MLA Karen McPherson had joined the Alberta Party.
“I am thrilled to welcome Karen to the team,” party leader Greg Clark said in a statement. “Karen is a smart woman with a strong business background and an interest in social equality and justice.”
Now that McPherson has joined the party, she one of two MLAs under the Alberta Party banner, joining Clark. The leader said he expects his party will be granted official party status.
“There’s a clear precedent for a two-member opposition to receive official party status, including two-member NDP oppositions [in] 1997 and most recently in 2008, where Rachel Notley and Brian Mason were given official party status,” Clark said.
The news came weeks after McPherson announced she was leaving the NDP caucus to sit as an independent.
She made the announcement through a statement posted on social media October 4. In the post, McPherson said: “We are missing the middle where we have more in common with each other than we are different. Albertans need political choices that inspire them, not scare them.”
