Calgary MP’s tweets stir up speculation over Harper’s successor
TORONTO — Calgary MP Michelle Rempel bluntly responded to calls that she succeed Stephen Harper in a stream of late-night tweets, laying out the resistance she’d expect to encounter as a young, female candidate for the leadership of the Conservative party.
“I’m a 35 year old chick. We’re not supposed to do these sorts of things, you know,” wrote the outgoing minister of western economic diversification, who was re-elected for a second term in Monday’s federal election.
“But, but, but, but she’s so YOUNG and ONLY FOUR YEARS and SO BOSSY,” reads another tweet posted Thursday. “These are the things we face. I am competent, proven and ready. Here’s the question — are you ready for someone like me?”
The tweets come amid rampant speculation about who will be the next Conservative leader, with a handful of veteran politicians and high-profile Conservatives saying no thanks. Former leader Jean Charest and Brian Mulroney’s son Mark, a Toronto businessman, both ruled out a bid Thursday.
“But that being said, you never say never to these things,” Mulroney said in an interview Thursday.
For now, Mulroney said, he’s focused on his job as the Toronto-based head of capital equity markets at National Bank. His brother Ben is a broadcaster with CTV, and sister Caroline is an investment management executive.
Since Harper announced his intention to step down after his party’s defeat on Monday, several names have been circulating as potential successors, including MPs Jason Kenney, Lisa Raitt, Kellie Leitch, Michael Chong and Tony Clement.
Kenney has been one of the party’s most successful fundraisers — bringing in $450,000 alone to his own riding since January, and $300,000 through other activities, a Conservative source told The Canadian Press.
Raitt hasn’t ruled out a run, but said this week the party needs to first do a proper analysis of the last election campaign and figure out where it’s going.
A convention date has not been set, but a leadership committee was struck on Tuesday evening.
Rempel’s comments were spurred by an apparent onslaught of messages from supporters, who called on her to run for leader. In an interview Thursday, she would not say for certain whether she was planning a bid.
“We need to ensure that we are sending a message through our leadership race that we are open to hearing all sorts of ideas and perspectives from different types of candidates in different types of regions,” she said.
Meanwhile longtime MP Diane Finley signalled she would seek to be interim leader, a job that is appointed by the parliamentary caucus.