NDP boosts Calgary seat count to 16
The Wildrose has 22 seats and the Alberta Party and Liberals have one apiece. It also means the NDP has 16 seats in Calgary.
Jansen — who had mused about leaving the Tory party after ending her leadership run — noted that when she made the allegations about harassment in the PC race, she received more words of support from NDP MLAs than from members of her own caucus.
The other woman running for the Tory leadership, Donna Kennedy-Glans, dropped out the same day as Jansen.
While she said she wasn’t harassed, Kennedy-Glans said she was worried about the rightward turn of the party.
Notley, who welcomed Jansen as a longtime “voice for practical, moderate progressive policies,” referenced the PC leadership contest in her remarks.
“I said last week that Tuesday was a bad day for women. Today is a much better day,” she said.
Notley said there had been no discussions with Jansen about potential cabinet positions but “she will have a great opportunity to earn her place and her role.”
Jansen’s move across the floor is the first since the mass defection of Wildrose MLAs to the then-PC government in 2014.
The ensuing backlash helped lead to the defeat of the four-decade-old Tory dynasty in the May 2015 election.
While Notley said at the time of the Wildrose floor-crossing that it “will really offend the basic values of many Albertans,” she doesn’t believe this move will get the same reaction.
“We’re not in a position where she’s moving from one extreme policy position to a different one,” said Notley.
“We’ve talked about being a pragmatic, progressive moderate alternative ... this really aligns quite nicely.”
Jansen, known for her advocacy around LGBTQ and other social issues, was first elected as an MLA in 2012 and served as associate minister of family and community safety under Alison Redford.
She has drawn fire in the past for her ties to Redford and her public support of two federal Liberal candidates in last year’s federal election.
Despite Jansen’s departure from the PC caucus, party president Katherine O’Neill said the party will continue its investigation into allegations of harassment and intimidation at the Red Deer convention, and the results will be made public.
Just a few hours before Jansen’s bombshell announcement, interim PC leader Ric McIver had been hopeful she would return to the party fold.
After hearing the news on Twitter, he told reporters it was a “disappointment” but that the party would “roll with the punches.”
“We’d be better off with Sandra in our team, but she’s chosen a different path,” he said.
While McIver wished Jansen well, he dismissed the notion that the Tories had lost the centre and are unwelcoming to women.
O’Neill wasn’t surprised Jansen chose to cross the floor.
“I know she has been unhappy over the last few months,” O’Neill said.
“She has made that decision for herself … but the party’s a team, it always has been.”
Four candidates remain in the PC race: Kenney, Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke, former MLA Stephen Khan and Calgary lawyer Byron Nelson.
I said last week that Tuesday was a bad day for women. Today is a much better day.