Deborah Drever
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Deborah Drever MLA |
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|---|---|
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-Bow | |
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Assumed office May 5, 2015 |
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| 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. 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.
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.
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. The pictures were later removed from her Facebook account. 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. Petitions were started and a protest was organized, 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. 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.
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.
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