‘No way they’re forgotten’
Upheaval in Calgary as Harper, Kenney leave federal scene
OTTAWA — For years, two adjacent Calgary ridings served as home turf for arguably the two most powerful politicians in Canada.
They’re also two of the safest Conservative seats in Canada; winning the Tory nomination vote is generally the real election that matters in these ridings.
But with the resignation Friday of Stephen Harper and the resignation soon of Jason Kenney, their Calgary seats in the House of Commons will suddenly be open.
Harper held his Calgary Heritage seat, which was recently renamed, since winning it in a 2002 byelection.
Kenney, who is running for the Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership in an effort to unite the right in that province, says he will resign as MP for Calgary Midnapore by the time the PC race officially begins Oct. 1. Kenney has been MP in southeast Calgary since 1997.
Indeed, it’s a mammoth changing of the guard in federal Conservative politics and in Calgary.
“It’s the natural progression for the party,” said Michele Austin, a former chief of staff in the Harper Conservative government and now senior adviser with Summa Strategies in Ottawa.
“Seen in the right light, it’s a very good thing for the party and I think it’s going to be part of the renewal of the post-Harper era.”
Harper and Kenney have played huge parts in the “deep current” of Calgary and Alberta thinking that can be found in Conservative party policies, she said, including the getit-done attitude and with minimal interference while remaining socially responsible.
“I think that thread still runs through a lot of (the Conservative party’s) policy-making and still anchors a lot of the decisions that the party makes,” she said.
Both MPs gave Calgary and Alberta enormous influence and power at the cabinet table for close to a decade.
But residents in the two ridings may now need to accept the possibility they could have backbenchers for MPs, even if it means their representatives might have more time to spend in the constituencies.
The departures of Harper and Kenney from federal politics are a huge opportunity for several people anxiously hoping to scoop up nominations in two secure Tory ridings, although some wellknown Conservatives in Calgary say they’re not interested.
Outspoken commentator and conservative activist Ezra Levant said he’s busy running his conservative news site, The Rebel, and won’t pursue a nomination.
Longtime Calgary MP Rob Anders, who lost the Conservative nomination to now-MP Ron Liepert in Calgary Signal Hill prior to the 2015 federal election, also said he doesn’t plan on seeking a nomination.
Multiple Conservative sources closely monitoring the upcoming vacancies say Calgary lawyer Rick Billington, a recent president of the Calgary Heritage Conservative association, is seriously considering running for the party ’s nomination in Harper’s riding. He declined comment.
Billington lost a 2012 bid for the Conservative nomination in Calgary Centre.
In Kenney’s riding of Calgary Midnapore, sources say former Canadian foreign service officer and well-known Conservative organizer Stephanie Kusie will pursue the nomination. Kusie is currently executive director of Common Sense Calgary, a civic advocacy organization.
Reached via email, Kusie declined comment.
They are huge figureheads in the movement and they will be critically important to have their influence as the Conservative party regroups for 2019
Some Calgary Conservative organizers are quietly wondering if Alberta PC interim Leader Ric McIver, an MLA in southeast Calgary, might run for the Conservative nomination in Kenney’s federal riding. McIver is a friend of Kenney and has served on his Conservative riding association board.
McIver couldn’t be reached for comment.
While the Conservatives will soon nominate new candidates in the two Calgary ridings, and voters will have their say on the next MPs in upcoming byelections, Harper and Kenney will still have enormous influence in the Conservative party heading into the 2019 federal election, Austin said.
“They may be gone but there is absolutely no way they’re forgotten,” she said. “They are huge figureheads in the movement and they will be critically important to have their influence as the Conservative party regroups for 2019.”