Deborah Drever
| Deborah Drever | |
|---|---|
| MLA for Calgary-Bow | |
|
Assumed office June 1, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Alana DeLong |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 15, 1988 Calgary, Alberta |
| Political party | Alberta New Democratic Party (2015, 2016–) |
| Other political affiliations | Independent (2015) |
| Residence | Calgary, Alberta |
| Alma mater | Mount Royal University |
| Occupation | student, politician |
Deborah Drever (born August 15, 1988) is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2015 general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the electoral district of Calgary-Bow.[1] A sociology student at Mount Royal University in Calgary, she defeated Progressive Conservative challenger Byron Nelson in the May 5, 2015, election in a riding that had historically elected Conservative candidates.[1][2][3]
She was elected as a member of the Alberta New Democratic Party, but was sworn in as an independent MLA after being barred from the caucus because of a controversy about her social media activities prior to her candidacy. In 2016, she was readmitted to the NDP caucus.[4]
Political career
Immediately after the 2015 election, Drever was criticized on social media after pictures from her Facebook page were circulated that showed somebody giving the finger to the Canadian flag and Drever posing with a "Magic Weed" (marijuana) tee-shirt.[5][6] The pictures were later removed from her Facebook account.[5] On May 15, 2015, Drever again attracted controversy when it was discovered that she posed in an assault scene for a music album cover. The image raised concerns among some observers who saw it as promoting sexual violence against women.[7] Petitions were started[8] and a protest was organized,[9] asking Drever to resign.
On May 20, 2015, Premier-designate Rachel Notley announced that she had directed Drever, as a result of the media attention, to create a plan to improve education on violence against women, particularly outreach to groups working with vulnerable young women.[10] Two days later, the NDP announced that Drever had been suspended from caucus after a homophobic remark was found posted from Drever’s Instagram account. Notley said that she would review Drever's status within a year.[11]
Drever wrote a private member’s bill designed to protect victims of domestic violence by allowing them to break leases and move out of their rental accommodations early. Her bill was unanimously approved by the legislature in the fall of 2015 and won her accolades from both sides of the legislative assembly. In January 2016, after Premier Notley decided that Drever had exceeded the criteria given to her in order to be readmitted into the government caucus, she was allowed to rejoin the NDP caucus.[4]
Electoral history
2015 general election
| Alberta general election, 2015 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| New Democratic | Deborah Drever | 5,680 | 34.54 | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Byron Nelson | 5,417 | 32.94 | |||||
| Wildrose | Trevor Grover | 3,753 | 22.82 | |||||
| Liberal | Matt Gaiser | 683 | 4.15 | |||||
| Alberta Party | Jonathon Himann | 466 | 2.83 | |||||
| Green | David Reid | 447 | 2.72 | |||||
| Total valid votes | ||||||||
References
- 1 2 Stephen Ewart (May 6, 2015). "NDP's Drever takes long-time Tory stronghold Calgary-Bow". Calgary Herald. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
- ↑ "CBC News - Alberta Election: Who are the province's new MLAs?". CBC News. May 6, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
- ↑ "Meet some of the new faces elected in Alberta's orange wave". Toronto Star. May 6, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
- 1 2 "Calgary MLA Deborah Drever returns to NDP caucus". Calgary Herald. January 8, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- 1 2 "New Calgary-Bow MLA takes down questionable Facebook page". Calgary Herald, May 6, 2015.
- ↑ "Deborah Drever, Rookie NDP MLA, Takes Heat Over Social Media Photos". The Huffington Post, May 6, 2015.
- ↑ "Deb Drever ordered by Notley over ‘inappropriate’ photo". Calgary Herald. May 20, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
- ↑ "Online petitions want new MLA removed from office due to Facebook photos". Calgary Herald. May 8, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
- ↑ "Calgary student organizes protest to recall NDP MLA Deborah Drever". Global News. May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
- ↑ "MLA Deborah Drever, under fire for 'highly inappropriate' photo, to work with outreach groups". Metro, May 20, 2015.
- ↑ "Here's the image that finally got NDP MLA Deborah Drever suspended from caucus". Calgary Herald, May 22, 2015.