EDMONTON—Standing alone as Alberta’s progressive voice in Parliament will be a balancing act for Heather McPherson, the NDP candidate elected Monday amid a sea of Conservative blue.

McPherson will head to Ottawa as the representative for Edmonton Strathcona while juggling the interests of federal and provincial parties that are at odds on their support for the oil and gas industry.

“One of the things I’d love to see is for us to have a conversation about energy in this country that doesn’t devolve into one project — Are you for us or are you against us? Are you for the economy or are you for the environment?” McPherson said Tuesday.

“I think we need to look at how to make sure that we are supporting our oil and gas industry in Alberta, but also transitioning and starting to look at how we can increase the amount of energy that comes out of solar and wind and thermal, and all these other great alternatives.”

McPherson was the only non-Conservative candidate elected in all of Alberta on Monday night, in a federal riding that overlaps with the provincial jurisdiction that is home to provincial NDP Leader Rachel Notley.

Notley, who endorsed McPherson but has mostly distanced herself from the federal party, is a staunch supporter of the contentious Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project opposed by British Columbia-based federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.

McPherson appears to lean in Notley’s direction, saying Tuesday that she supports the pipeline if the courts decide it meets Canada’s obligations to Indigenous people, the climate and the Constitution.

“At this point, it’s in the courts, so the courts will decide whether or not it does,” McPherson said.

Energy is not her sole focus.

McPherson said her priorities include fighting for immediate action on affordable housing and robust pharmacare, dental care and mental health — issues where the federal and provincial NDP camps are more closely aligned.

Known in the central Edmonton community for her work with non-profits and on environmental and human rights issues, McPherson is also calling on the federal government to provide more international assistance. She said it was “embarrassing” that Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer proposed during the election campaign to slash Canada’s “very minuscule” foreign aid expenses by 25 per cent.

McPherson is taking the reins from her NDP predecessor Linda Duncan, who retired after holding the federal seat for 11 years.

Laurie Adkin, a political science professor at the University of Alberta who has lived in Edmonton Strathcona for more than 20 years, described the riding as a “cultural microcosm” that is very pro-environment and friendly to a strong defence of public services.

She attributes this to a concentration of highly educated people connected to university and government, with the Mill Creek ravine area attracting people who are interested in an environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Adkin said McPherson’s willingness to support Trans Mountain is a “real problem” for some of those voters.

“Linda Duncan did support the federal policy line, and now we have a candidate who seems to be supporting the province,” Adkin said.

“I think McPherson should keep in mind that she represents not only people who support the Rachel Notley line on energy policy, but a lot of people who are quite critical of the Rachel Notley line and who are more in line with the federal NDP’s positions. So she is in a difficult place.”

While McPherson said Monday night that Strathcona is an orange riding through and through, Adkin doesn’t believe that’s the case.

She said the NDP has held on to the riding because of a lot of strategic voting, and said Green candidate Michael Kalmanovitch stepping aside to back McPherson likely helped her defeat Conservative Party of Canada challenger Sam Lilly.

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Adkin said McPherson could potentially take on a role as a critic in foreign aid or international development in the new 25-member NDP caucus.

“There’s a small caucus, she will certainly have a voice at the table. And then the NDP, of course, if they enter into some kind of agreement with the Liberals around the legislative agenda, they will have some bargaining power as well overall,” Adkin said.

McPherson sees herself having a “huge responsibility” going to Ottawa.

“I think I have a really important role to support all those Albertans, whether they are in Edmonton Strathcona or not, that voted for a progressive representative,” she said.

“We should be ensuring that we have people fighting for Alberta at all tables. We didn’t even really see (CPC Leader Andrew) Scheer during the campaign, so I do think that it’s very easy for us to be taken for granted.”

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