Is Kenney Alberta’s blue knight?
Conservative insiders eye Calgary MP as man to unite the right
OTTAWA — Influential conservatives in Alberta are speculating that Jason Kenney — thought by many to be the front-runner for the federal Tory leadership — could instead jump into provincial politics and be the white knight who unites the right and defeats Rachel Notley’s NDP in the next election.
Many conservatives also are wondering whether interim federal Tory leader Rona Ambrose, who has drawn plaudits for her performance and has vowed not to run for the federal Conservative leadership, might be thinking about a move to Alberta politics.
Kenney, a popular Calgary MP and former top lieutenant in Stephen Harper’s government, has flown under the radar since the Conservatives were relegated to the official Opposition in the Oct. 19 federal election.
His low profile comes even as unite-the-right discussions intensify in Wild Rose country. The Alberta NDP’s popularity has declined amid tens of thousands of job losses in the oil and gas sector and widespread economic pain.
A Kenney campaign for the federal Conservative party leadership — a convention is expected to be held in the spring of 2017 — appears far from given.
With informal conversations underway in Alberta among some MLAs, political operatives and grassroots members, many hope Kenney will jump in and lead a united conservative party back into the premier’s office in 2019.
Kenney did not provide comment when contacted by the Citizen. The MP has given no public indication he has an interest in moving to provincial politics. Multiple sources involved in Alberta federal and provincial politics say Kenney is playing his cards close to his chest.
However, some activists in the Wildrose and PC parties believe he is a slam-dunk to lead an Alberta Conservative party (or some other united right-of-centre movement) should he pursue it.
“Kenney is sort of the last giant standing in Alberta politics on the right,” said one provincial conservative source who declined to be named. “If he decided to make some kind of move, it would be seismic.”
If he made the move, Kenney would lead a new united party, many think, rather than run for the vacant PC leadership or go after the Wildrose leadership held by his former federal Conservative colleague, Brian Jean.
Kenney was devastated by the federal election defeat, some longtime Conservatives say. Many of the electoral gains he helped cultivate over a decade among ethnic voters were also lost to the Liberals. He told Ambrose he did not want a critic role in the Conservative caucus, as he tried to figure out his next steps.
Meanwhile, after more than a decade of Harper leading the federal Conservatives, many in the party believe they’ll have a better chance at regaining power in four years with a leader from outside Alberta.
Ken Boessenkool, who held senior roles on multiple federal Conservative election campaigns and was involved in the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties into the Conservative Party of Canada, says he, like a lot of Albertans, wants the two provincial parties to co-operate.
Boessenkool said his favourite politicians in Alberta are interim PC leader Ric McIver and Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt.
“Like a lot of people, I don’t want to work hard on Alberta politics until the people I like the most are working together,” he said. “Jason Kenney has earned the right over the last 10 years to do whatever in politics he thinks he should do. I think he would have broad support whatever he decides to do.”
Discussions about uniting the right in Alberta are in the early stages. Fildebrandt and Progressive Conservative MLA Mike Ellis held a beer night in mid-December in Calgary so conservatives of various stripes could discuss the future of the parties.
Jean said in December at a fundraising dinner that his party is reaching out to Progressive Conservatives in an effort to build a “consolidated conservative coalition” in Alberta.
Another source who has worked in the conservative movement in Alberta and Ottawa said the “perfect storm” of an NDP win, weak provincial economy and Conservatives losing power in Ottawa has many on the right refocused on Alberta.
“They really want to talk about what’s going on in Alberta, they don’t really want to talk a lot about what’s going on federally because it’s kind of gross, and I think Jason is experiencing that in an acute way,” the source said.
“Jason Kenney has earned the right over the last 10 years to do whatever in politics he thinks he should do. I think he would have broad support whatever he decides to do. KEN BOESSENKOOL CONSERVATIVE INSIDER