A rookie New Democrat MLA in Alberta has been suspended from caucus over a controversial photo that has prompted accusations of homophobia.

Incoming Alberta Premier Rachel Notley suspended Deborah Drever on Friday, announcing the MLA would sit as an independent in her Calgary Bow riding until she proves she deserves to have a "future" with the party.

The photo, posted to Instagram, showed outgoing Premier Jim Prentice, a Conservative, and Ric McIver, a cabinet minister, with doodled speech bubbles.

A comment on the post from the account @drevfever read "Gay boyz."

The doodles appeared to have been scribbled on a photo that was published alongside an article last year during the Conservative leadership race.

Notley issued a statement outlining the disciplinary actions she had taken and the path forward for Drever.

"I apologize to all Albertans for the homophobic statements contained in this image, which are completely contrary to the views of our party and our future government. I hope Ms. Drever will take to heart our conversation earlier this week about her responsibility to speak out clearly on issues of violence against women, and homophobia," Notley said.

"If she does so as part of her duties to her constituents, I'll review this matter in the coming year and consider whether she has a future in our caucus."

NDP spokesperson Cheryl Oates said the party only learned of the photo on Friday, and noted that it was posted on a closed Instagram account.

"We became aware of it this morning when we saw it on social media," Oates said. "We had no idea about this photo."

Once they became aware of the photo, party officials confirmed with Drever that she had posted the photo and the comment, Oates said.

Drever was elected in the NDP's stunning victory in the May 5 provincial election, which launched the party to majority power after more than decades of Tory rule in the province.

Several controversial photos involving Drever, who will assume her duties after the new government is sworn-in on Sunday, have surfaced in recent days.

In one photo, taken three years ago, the 26-year-old is pretending to be assaulted with a bottle for one of metal band Gatekrashör's album covers.

In another photo, taken when Drever was 19, she can be seen posing beside a marijuana T-shirt. She also posted to Facebook an image of a hand giving the middle finger to the Canadian flag, although Drever said it wasn’t her giving the gesture.

On Thursday, Drever told The Canadian Press that the album cover photo was a youthful mistake and she intended to prove she was no longer the same person who had posed for the image.