Shannon Phillips, the MLA for Lethbridge-West, is stepping down on Monday, officials confirmed to CTV News.
Details about her decision are expected to be announced during her noon media availability at the Galt Museum in Lethbridge.
News of the announcement comes two weeks after it was revealed that no charges would be laid against two police officers who broke the rules, illegally surveilling the MLA in 2017 as she was discussing a proposed new park while she was the NDP’s environment minister.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) later found the officers had committed criminal offences, but the test for prosecution was not met.
After the decision on May 27, Phillips said she was relieved the situation was resolved but it was “unacceptable” that an elected official was treated that way.
“A duly elected person, a minister of the Crown is targeted and victimized by law enforcement simply because they don’t like her politics. And that is what happened to me,” she told the Canadian Press.
Phillips pointed to a number of other examples where the Crown has declined to prosecute despite the watchdog’s recommendations.
“What we have here is a structural systemic issue that our side of the house would certainly be welcome working with the government on to make sure that there are enough resources and expertise there,” she said.
“This is not ideological. Police accountability and oversight is something that we all have an interest in, particularly when it is so crucial to our basic institutions of democracy.”
Phillips has represented the riding since 2015, first serving as environment minister under the NDP.
She is currently the finance critic for the Official Opposition.
(With files from the Canadian Press)