Shannon Phillips resigns as Lethbridge-West MLA

“We have made significant gains in building the party outside of Edmonton and Calgary. Being elected for three terms outside of the major cities in Alberta shows that with focus, discipline and community connection, I could achieve something as a New Democrat that everyone told me was impossible just a decade ago,” says Phillips.

Phillips came into office in 2015 as the NDP formed government for the first time in Alberta. While in power, she served as the Minister of Environment and Parks.

A short list of what she is most proud of accomplishing includes creating an industrial price on carbon, the phase-out of coal-fired electricity, creating a boom in renewable energy investments, and creating jobs in every community in the province.

She says there was not one reason in particular for her decision to leave, but rather, several. The biggest one is her long-standing issues with the Lethbridge Police Service.

In 2017, two police officers ran surveillance on Phillips, despite not being part of any official investigations. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team ruled in May 2024 that it would not issue any charges against the officers.

The following year, a group of LPS members shared memes about Phillips that the service itself described a “profane, abusive, and insulting.” Two of the members left the service and two were temporarily demoted.

Phillips says, “I can take being criticized on a political level, I can even take the trolls and the bots, and, you know, whatever the Kremlin throws at us. What I can’t take is what happened from the LPS, given that it is so far outside the acceptable norms of the rule of law and the institutions of liberal democracy, for which, they have never been held accountable and have never shown a whiff of responsibility.”

“That was key in my factor not to even consider looking at the leadership of our party, and now that things look as if they are very strong and very optimistic around the province, there’s no question that the constant grind of this has weighed on my and has become a factor in my decision-making,” she added.

Some of her other reasons for leaving office include wanting to explore other professional opportunities. She did not elaborate on what those might entail, but made it clear that she will remain active in the NDP and other left-leaning causes.

There was also a feeling that she had accomplished much of what she set out to.

“You have to be able to recognize when a job has been done and when a chapter has been closed and when another opportunity can open up, and that’s where we’re at today,” Phillips explained. “My friend, Catherine McKenna, when she stepped down, said, ‘You know, you get into this business to do something, and then you get those things done and then you leave.’ For me, this was the right time.”

Phillips dismissed any rumours that she was dropping out of politics to make room for Naheed Nenshi to run, as he is the one remaining Alberta NDP leadership hopeful who does not currently have a seat in the legislature.

Her time as MLA comes to an end on July 1, 2024. A by-election will need to be held to fill her seat in Lethbridge-West, but at the time of publication, there is no word on when that will happen.

READ MORE: Reactions pour in for Lethbridge-West MLA following resignation

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