Shannon Phillips

Phillips' mother was a physics teacher in Spruce Grove, where Phillips grew up with her parents and younger sister. She also served as chair of the group Womanspace Lethbridge for five years. Phillips organized her first protest at age 17, which was successful in fighting Spruce Grove's curfew imposed on teenagers. and is a mother of two sons. ==Career==

In 2000, Phillips worked on Brian Mason's by-election campaign in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood. She was a University of Alberta political science grad interning in the office of Brian Mason On May 24, 2015, she was sworn in as the Minister of Environment and Parks and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women in the Alberta Cabinet. After the United Conservative Party formed government in 2019, she was succeeded by Jason Nixon and Leela Aheer. She also served as Minister Responsible for Climate Change and as the Deputy Government House Leader. In opposition, she served in critic roles, including finance. She was also re-elected as an MLA in 2019 general election and 2023. Phillips resigned as an MLA effective July 1, 2024, having opted out of the Alberta New Democrats leadership race following the retirement of Rachel Notley as leader, believing that she had accomplished enough in politics, had unnamed opportunities in the private sector and wanted to spend more time with her two teenage sons. The provincial by-election to replace her was held in December 2024. Outside politics On August 21, 2024, she announced she would be joining the University of Lethbridge Department of Political Science as Adjunct Faculty at the start of the Fall 2024 term. She is also a partner with Meredith, Boessenkool and Phillips Policy Advisors. Policy advocacy Phillips has advocated on numerous issues, including Indigenous land claims, consultation and relations, climate change, human rights, technology industry programs (artificial intelligence strategy), renewable energy procurement, support for small and local breweries, public service wages and women's economic equality. Phillips is an advocate for labour relations and bargaining rights. Phillips is an advocate for the Water Act, which protects Water Act license holders to first-in-time, first-in-right system that protects investments in irrigation, a benefit to farmers. Phillips has been advocating for Lethbridge's Supervised injection site (Safe Consumption Site) to expand for safe intox and detox support, as well as supportive housing. Shannon Phillips and Premier Rachel Notley released a climate change policy plan in 2015, which included a carbon price to be $30 per tonne by 2018, coal-fired power plants to be phased out by 2030, emissions from oil sands to be capped at 100 megatonnes per year, methane emissions to be reduced by 45% by 2025 in the oil & gas sector, and 30% of all electricity to be renewable generated by 2030. Phillips' first act as Environment Minister was to ensure quality oil sands monitoring and that the chief scientist that is in charge of the report makes it public, and not to the Minister. In the early days of the United Conservative Party (UCP) government that displaced the NDP's government at the 2019 Alberta general election, Phillips spoke against Bill 1 - The Act to Repeal the Carbon Tax. Phillips spoke and voted against Bill 8, which she and others gave the sarcastic nickname "Bill Hate". Phillips is an ally to the LGBTQ+ community and has spoken for and the protection of LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms, as she has strongly voted against the UCP Bill 8 - The Education Amendment Act, which would remove protections for LGBTQ+ youth from being outed by school staff or administration whenever a child joins a gay–straight alliance (GSA). ==In the news==

On June 24, 2016, the Wildrose Party said during question period that Phillips' editorial work for a 2004 book by Greenpeace activist Mike Hudema, entitled An Action a Day Keeps Global Capitalism Away, would "make the business and industrial sectors even more jittery about the agenda of the new NDP government." Phillips, who wrote the foreword and did some copy editing, said she did not contribute to the content. On January 8, 2018, Phillips was in the news because of a Tweet, which Phillips said was sent by her assistant, in support of a Green Challenge by Environment Lethbridge, in which the Lethbridge organization called on all Albertans to undertake five actions for 30 days from January 15 through February 15. This included "unplugging electronics, refraining from idling vehicles, using reusable shopping bags, reducing shower time, and going meatless for one day each week." Rich Smith, executive director of Alberta Beef Producers, said that Environment Lethbridge's Green Challenge which suggested eating less meat was clearly done with "good intentions" but was misinformed as "going meatless for one day a week" would not "reduce people's environmental impact substantially." announcing that public consultations that were planned for Drayton Valley, Edmonton, Red Deer, and Sundre, would be cancelled and with announcements of alternative consultations. The proposed region, situated between Banff National Park and Jasper National Park, would provide a vast and critical wildlife corridor for numerous wildlife species, including sensitive species, such as bull trout (Alberta's provincial fish), wolverine, and grizzly bears, that would extend from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming in the south to the Yukon in Northern Canada. According to a January 7, 2019 article in The Globe and Mail, some residents of Rocky Mountain House, a town of 7,000, led by UCP Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (MLA) for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre, Jason Nixon, oppose the creation of the park. • In regards to Phillips' remarks, RCMP spokesman Fraser Logan issued a written statement via email, stating: “Alberta RCMP did not provide any official advice to Alberta Environment and Parks regarding the Bighorn public consultations.” Logan stated, “We can confirm we have been contacted by some members of the public who wanted the police to be aware of some concerning social media interactions around the Bighorn public consultation,” said the RCMP. “Alberta RCMP can confirm that we do not have any ongoing investigations relating to the consultations.” In July 2020, two members of the Lethbridge Police Service were demoted for inappropriately using their police jobs in 2017 to follow and photograph Phillips, then the Minister of Environment and Parks of Alberta. Phillips was in the process of meeting with stakeholders in the lead-up to the formation of Castle Provincial Park, where the two officers had an interest in off-road vehicle driving. One of the officers took photos of the meeting and ran a police check on the stakeholder; the photo was later published on Facebook under a pseudonym alongside criticism of the NDP government. After an investigation by the Medicine Hat Police Service, charges were laid against the two officers, who admitted to the misconduct charges. In 2025, Phillips stated that she would support the federal Liberal Party candidate in her riding of Lethbridge. Ahead of the 2026 federal NDP leadership election, she endorsed Heather McPherson and emerged as a critic of Avi Lewis. ==Electoral history==

2023 general election 2019 general election 2015 general election 2012 general election ==Notes==