Karen McPherson
Karen Margaret McPherson (born 1966) is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2015 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the electoral district of Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill with a plurality of votes under the first-past-the-post system.[1][2] On October 4, 2017, McPherson announced she was leaving the NDP to sit as an Independent.[3] Weeks later, she announced that she was joining the caucus of the Alberta Party, becoming its second MLA.[4]
Karen McPherson | |
|---|---|
 McPherson in May 2015 | |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill | |
| In office May 5, 2015 – March 19, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Neil Brown |
| Succeeded by | district abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1966 or 1967 (age 56–57) Edmonton, Alberta |
| Political party | Alberta Party (2017-present) |
| Other political affiliations | New Democratic (2015–2017) |
| Residence(s) | Calgary, Alberta |
| Occupation | Business Analyst/Entrepreneur |
In March 2019 she announced that she would not seek re-election. She was succeeded by United Conservative Josephine Pon; the Alberta Party candidate took less than 9% of the votes.
Electoral history
2015 general election
| 2015 Alberta general election: Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Karen McPherson | 6,177 | 36.86% | 30.94% | ||||
| Wildrose | Kathy Macdonald | 4,914 | 29.32% | -9.07% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Neil Brown | 4,585 | 27.36% | -19.11% | ||||
| Liberal | Prab Lashar | 768 | 4.58% | -3.19% | ||||
| Green | Sandy Kevin Aberdeen | 316 | 1.89% | – | ||||
| Total | 16,760 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 91 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 34,487 | 48.86% | -0.05% | |||||
| New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | -0.27% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "19 - Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill Official Results 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. | ||||||||
Advocacy
Bill 2, An Act to Remove Barriers for Survivors of Sexual and Domestic Violence, was introduced by NDP MLA Kathleen Ganley on March 7, 2017. If passed, Bill 2 would allow survivors of sexual assault and sexual misconduct who wish to sure their attackers to file civil claims at any point, removing the standard two-year deadline for civil actions.[5][6]
In April 2017, during the Second Reading of Bill 2, Karen McPherson spoke publicly about her experience with sexual violence and spoke in support of Bill 2.[7] This was the first time MLA McPherson spoke publicly about her lived experience with sexual violence.[8]
References
- Howell, Trevor (2015-04-29). "Riding: Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
- Hudes, Sammy (2015-05-06). "Rookie NDP MLA inspired by Peter Lougheed, Grant Notley". Calgary Herald.
- "Calgary NDP MLA quits over unrepresented 'middle'". metronews.ca. 2017-10-04. Archived from the original on 2017-10-05.
- Graney, Emma (October 29, 2017). "MLA Karen McPherson joining the Alberta Party". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- Bellefontaine, Michelle (March 7, 2017). "New bill removes 2-year limit for victims to sue attackers". CBC News.
- "Bill 2 AN ACT TO REMOVE BARRIERS FOR SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. March 14, 2022.
- McPherson, Karen (2017-03-15). In support of Bill 2. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
- Karen McPherson [@not_thatkaren] (January 31, 2020). "Flashback Friday to when I first spoke publicly about my experience with sexual violence" (Tweet). Retrieved February 21, 2023 – via Twitter.