Stephanie McLean, MLA for Calgary-Varsity, has resigned from her position in the Alberta legislature, according to a post on Premier Rachel Notley’s Facebook page on Wednesday.
The post offered no details about the resignation but wished McLean all the best in her future endeavours.
McLean announced in May 2018 that she would not be seeking re-election.
McLean was on personal leave during the fall sitting of the legislature. She said the decision to leave now is tied to her considering an offer to return to family law.
“I want to make sure I have a clean slate going into my next opportunities,” she said.
During her time in office, McLean served as minister of Service Alberta and of Status of Women.
“As minister of Service Alberta, Stephanie protected Albertans by strengthening rules around payday lending and overhauling the province’s consumer protection legislation,” Notley’s statement read. “As the minister of Status of Women, she led work on our government’s commitment to end sexual violence and organized a campaign to encourage women to run for municipal office.”
Before entering politics, McLean practised family and criminal law. She was the first Alberta MLA to give birth while in office.
“(It’s) a bit odd,” McLean said in an interview Thursday, one day after she gave her formal notice that she was leaving her Calgary Varsity seat.
“I always wanted to do politics at some point in my life, since I was a kid, and never thought the thing I would be remembered for was having a child.
“It’s a bit of a mixed feeling because it’s not something that required my brain to accomplish, and yet it is my most memorable accomplishment.”
McLean made headlines in February 2016 when she gave birth to son Patrick. It forced the legislature to revise rules to accommodate new working mothers.
The rules had to be changed to allow Patrick to join his mom on the front bench of the chamber. McLean’s husband, Shane, had to be nearby to help, but couldn’t get a legislature security pass because he was not a government member. Those rules have also been changed.
“The changes that came about as a result in the legislature … make having my very private life become very public worth it,” said McLean. “The stories that I’ve heard from women has really made it worth it.”
She said a constituent who was joining a university committee pushed — and was allowed — to have her two young ones nearby.
“She told me that she only asked because, she said, ‘If Stephanie can do it, I can, too.'”
McLean joined cabinet in February 2016 but was shuffled out last June after she announced she would not be running in the next election.
With files from Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press.
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