Kenney to decide by summer’s end on Tory leadership run

VANCOUVER Conservative MP Jason Kenney says he expects to decide by the end of the summer whether he’ll run for the party leadership, insisting he’s in no rush and that a 12-month campaign is too long.

Kenney told reporters at the Conservative party convention in Vancouver there’s no “hard deadline” for him to decide on whether to join the race, but said he believes interim leader Rona Ambrose should be allowed to join the leadership contest.

He noted the average party leadership race in Canada is five or six months, so there’s no need for a campaign of a year or longer.

Most serious candidates will know by the end of the summer whether they’ll enter the race, Kenney said, and he expects to make a decision by roughly that time. Conservatives will elect their new leader on May 27, 2017.

Kenney — a perceived front-runner for the party crown if he wants it — said leadership candidates must be prepared to dedicate potentially 10 years to the job, which is something that will factor into his decision.

“It would be a long commitment,” Kenney said. “We certainly hope to win the 2019 election, but it’s possible that we won’t, in which case, whoever is running for this leadership has to be prepared in principle for two terms in opposition, and then hopefully government. You’re talking something like a decade or more as a potential time commitment.”

The Calgary MP said his decision whether to run could be affected by who else joins the race.

So far, former Conservative ministers Michael Chong, Kellie Leitch and Maxime Bernier have jumped into the race, while other former ministers like Peter MacKay, Tony Clement and Lisa Raitt are also considering potential leadership bids.

“If I found somebody who I thought was a better candidate, I would support them. I’m not driven by ego or some kind of empty ambition,” Kenney said. “If I were to run, it would be because I think I have the best package of skills and the most relevant experience and convictions. It’s not just because I want to see my name on a ballot.”

Kenney said Ambrose, who insists she’s not interested in the top job, has been fantastic in her current role and would make a great permanent leader.

He said he supports a “Draft Rona” movement led by fellow Tory MP Scott Reid to have members pass a constitutional amendment that would allow Ambrose to run for the permanent job.

The Conservative party constitution currently forbids the interim leader from running for the permanent job, although Ambrose could simply resign from the interim post to avoid that problem.

“I don’t think that a member should be denied an opportunity to support a strong interim leader. Circumstances change. You can imagine all sorts of circumstances where you have a deputy leader, who by broad consensus, emerges as the best permanent leader, even if that wasn’t the initial consideration,” Kenney said.

“She has, I think, been quite clear about this (on declaring she won’t run) … but I think she would be a phenomenally strong permanent leader.”