# Stephanie McLean (politician)

Stephanie Veronica McLean ECA is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who was elected in the 2015 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the electoral district of Calgary-Varsity. She is a graduate of the University of Calgary's law school and was sworn in as the Minister of Status of Women and Minister of Service Alberta on February 2, 2016.

## Political career

McLean made history when she became the first Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and first Minister in Alberta's history to give birth while in office. McLean gave birth to a baby boy, Patrick, on February 12, 2016. McLean's pregnancy sparked questions around the logistics and rules of the Alberta legislature around pregnancy, maternity leave, and support for new parents in the legislature. Her pregnancy spurred the creation of an all-party committee with a mandate to review and make recommendations on maternity leave and making the Legislature more responsive to members' family obligations. When asked why she thought it took until 2015 for the Alberta Legislature to have a pregnant MLA, McLean replied that for the first time in Alberta's history an unprecedented number of women had been elected; "It’s just a matter of it being a typical old boys’ club. When you look down from the galleries at the House, our half of the House has substantially more women than in the past. It took Alberta some time to change and we had a substantial change in government."

## Electoral history
### 2015 general election

vte2015 Alberta general election: Calgary-Varsity :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | New Democratic | Stephanie McLean | 8,297 | 43.94 | +39.31 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Susan Billington | 5,700 | 30.19 | -15.71 |
| | Wildrose | Sharon Polsky | 2,598 | 13.76 | -12.45 |
| | Liberal | Pete Helfrich | 1,862 | 9.86 | -10.62 |
| | Green | Carl Svoboda | 424 | 2.25 | +0.92 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 18,881 | 99.33 | +0.03 |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 127 | 0.67 | -0.03 |
| Eligible voters / turnout | Eligible voters / turnout | Eligible voters / turnout | 32,467 | 58.55 | -1.30 |
| | New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative | New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | Swing | +27.51 |
| Source(s) "2015 Provincial General Election Results". Elections Alberta. Archived from the original on 2020-09-28. Retrieved 2017-08-01. |||||||

### 2014 Calgary-Elbow by-election

vteAlberta provincial by-election, October 27, 2014: Calgary-Elbow Resignation of Alison Redford on August 6, 2014 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Gordon Dirks | 4,209 | 33.22 | -24.87 |
| | Alberta Party | Greg Clark | 3,406 | 26.88 | +24.20 |
| | Wildrose | John Fletcher | 3,061 | 24.16 | -4.42 |
| | Liberal | Susan Wright | 1,523 | 12.02 | +6.49 |
| | New Democratic | Stephanie McLean | 471 | 3.72 | -0.23 |
| Total | Total | Total | 12,842 | — | — |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 23 | 22 | 2 |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 34,163 | 37.16 | — |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -24.53 |
| Source(s) Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2015). Report on the October 27, 2014 By-elections in: Calgary-Elbow, Calgary-Foothills, Calgary-West, Edmonton-Whitemud (PDF) (Report). Edmonton: Legislative Assembly of Alberta; Chief Electoral Officer. ISBN 978-098653678-6. Retrieved April 20, 2021. |||||||