Sandra Jansen announced on Monday that she has decided not to seek reelection after much consideration and discussion with her family.
Jansen is the MLA for Calgary-North West and Alberta’s Infrastructure Minister.
She was first elected to the legislature as a Conservative and two years ago crossed the floor to join the NDP.
Associate Professor of Policy Studies at Mount Royal University, Lori Williams, says Jansen’s announcement is not a surprise.
“Sandra Jansen has probably looked at the chance of winning in her riding and concluded that it’s not likely to be a successful race. So she’s spent a lot of time in the legislature, she’s performed service in the legislature but the fact that she was a Progressive Conservative when first elected and went to the NDP, that sort of floor-crossing, as we know, always raising questions about a candidate and that combined with other considerations, made, I think, her realize that her chances in the next election are limited.”
Jansen released a statement on the Alberta NDP website on Monday saying that it was not an easy decision and that she plans to help Premier Notley get reelected.
