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Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan steps down

Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan is resigning.

Khan, who has led the party since 2017, will be accepting a new employment opportunity in law, the party said in a release emailed Sunday evening.

Khan said it has been an honour to serve the party.

"During my time as Alberta Liberal Leader, we were powerful advocates on significant issues including regulating Political Action Committees, remediating orphan wells, eliminating school segregation rooms, and addressing the 'red alerts' crisis with EMS," he said.

"We pushed the provincial government to take action on these matters of concern to Albertans. We also raised awareness and grew support for Universal Basic Income, and the necessity of a sales tax. I was proud to advance these forward-thinking ideas to improve the lives of Albertans."

Khan was born and raised in Calgary. He is the first openly gay leader of a major Alberta political party, and is a lawyer specializing in Indigenous rights and land-claims litigation

In the 2019 election, Khan finished fourth in his riding of Calgary-Mountain View, with 5.6 per cent of the vote.

The Liberals were once the province's official Opposition, but after a high of 32 seats in 1993, the party suffered from ups and downs until it fell to third-party status in the legislature in 2012 and elected only one member in 2015.

The party thanked Khan, noting in the release he "developed bold new policies, modernized party operations and recruited a new generation of young Albertans to the Alberta Liberal Party."

The party said its board of directors will meet soon to decide on next steps.