McPherson will join Alberta Party

Former NDP MLA Karen McPherson, who quit the governing party’s caucus to sit as an independent, has joined the Alberta Party.

McPherson, the member for Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill, left the governing NDP while citing the increasing polarization of Alberta politics.

According to a document obtained Sunday by Postmedia, McPherson feels she can better serve her constituents by joining the centrist Alberta Party.

The news is set to be officially released Monday.

In a draft news release, McPherson said she was looking forward to the opportunity to push for transformational change in health and education, driven by technology.

“The Alberta Party represents the missing middle in Alberta politics,” she said in the release.

“We reject polarization and focus first on what we have in common rather than what makes us different from each other.”

McPherson will focus on small business, entrepreneurship and bringing transformational change to health care through technology.

McPherson said Albertans need to “rise above partisanship,” and made a case for using emerging technologies to make systems sustainable over the long term.

“The answers don’t lie in drastic cuts or in a slow downward trend in rising costs,” she said.

In the release, Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark called McPherson “a perfect fit” for the party.

When McPherson left the NDP, she said she was concerned politics was “missing the middle.”

“Albertans need political choices that inspire them, not scare them,” she said on Facebook at the time.