The Canadian Press
Jennifer Ditchburn
OTTAWA—Toronto businessman Mark Mulroney says he won’t run for the Conservative leadership—at least not for now.
Calgary MP Michelle Rempel, on the other hand, appears to be openly musing about a bid.
And a Conservative source is highlighting the fact that Jason Kenney has been one of the party’s most successful fundraisers—bringing in $450,000 alone to his own riding since January and another $300,000 through other activities.
It’s all part of the chatter around a race that doesn’t even have a convention date set yet, in a party where Stephen Harper technically is still the leader.
A leadership committee was struck Tuesday evening.
Mulroney, son of former Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, says his family always is interested in public service and politics. But will he run?
“No. But that being said, you never say never to these things,” Mulroney said in an interview yesterday.
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.
“It’s not something that hasn’t crossed my mind and my brother’s mind, but I’m focused on the job at hand,” Mulroney said in an interview.
He added he’s happy to actively help the party.
Brian Mulroney was a high-profile labour lawyer who became deeply involved in Tory party politics, and was a corporate executive at the time of his leadership win in 1983.
Jean Charest, one of Mulroney’s successors as Progressive Conservative leader before he jumped to Quebec politics, also is ruling himself out of the race to succeed Harper.
Charest, 57, told Radio-Canada he is happy with his new life and his job as a lawyer at McCarthy Tetrault.
But Rempel appeared to be musing publicly on Twitter on Wednesday about throwing her own hat into the ring. She referred to people who had been urging her to “do it.”
She pointed out some of the comments that women in politics get when they consider such a leap.
“I mean, I’m too brash, impetuous and abrasive, right? Maybe I should take a little time—good things come to those who wait,” she tweeted.
“I’m a bit too aggressive. Maybe the base won’t understand me.”
But Rempel told The Canadian Press yesterday that the public should not interpret her Twitter comments as an indication she is considering a run at Harper’s job.
“It is way too early for anyone to be talking about seeking the leadership,” she said in a phone interview.
“I was simply using examples of the sort of questions that could arise for anyone looking to become leader,” Rempel added.
“I don’t believe anyone should be dismissed because of their gender, experience, or where they live.”
Other names that have been circulating as potential leadership candidates include Kenney and fellow MPs Lisa Raitt, Rob Nicholson, Kellie Leitch, Michael Chong, and Tony Clement.
Yesterday, MP Diane Finley became the first to put her name forward for interim leader—a job that is appointed by the parliamentary caucus.
