Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner gives a press conference at Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 5.The Canadian Press
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner says she will not run in the Conservative United Party leadership race to replace Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenney, ending weeks of speculation that intensified after she publicly indicated she was considering a career.
It was expected that Ms. Rempel Garner, who represents Calgary Nose Hill in Parliament, would emerge as one of the first candidates if she launched a campaign, but in a lengthy blog post, the longtime politician said the party agitation finally led to to retire.
Less than a year before a provincial election and her status as a foreigner in the party, Ms. Rempel Garner wrote that she was not sure she would be able to repair the wounds that have caused the split in the CPU. He said he sympathizes with the “significant level of damage and uncertainty” within the party, after experiencing electoral losses, leadership resignations and dismissals in the federal Conservative caucus.
He said both Conservative parties have made headlines for public falls, close to physical fights, defamatory work and internal strife, which do little to win the public’s trust. The election of a new leader will not only erase these long-standing problems, he added, noting talks in recent weeks showing that the “bitterness” that led to Mr Kenney’s resignation is still crude.
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner leaves Patrick Brown’s campaign to run for UCP leadership
Ms Rempel Garner wrote about a “clear division” between “those who do not want the former leadership team to maintain any control over power and those who are part of the former leadership team and want to fully maintain the status quo.” quo “.
“None of these positions are sustainable. The public has no sympathy for that either.”
The UCP race was called last month after Mr. Kenney finished a leadership review with just 51 percent support, a meager victory that prompted him to announce his intention to resign.
In anticipation of a possible provincial career, Ms. Rempel Garner left her role as co-chair of Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown’s Conservative federal leadership campaign. Shortly after his departure, the campaign director of Mr. Brown, Sean Schnell, left to follow her. He was also granted an exemption earlier this week for running as a leader despite not being a member of the party long enough.
Mr. Brown said in a statement that Ms. Rempel Garner will not return to his campaign.
“The campaign has been adjusted and restarted as a result of its departure and we have the team that will take us until September 10,” he said. “But I’m glad we can continue to use their experience and knowledge as we move forward.”
Ms Rempel Garner said resigning as a candidate for the UCP leader was the most difficult decision she has ever made, but the contradictory reactions of UCP caucus members to her request for exemption from eligibility validated their decision.
“I am concerned about what would happen if I intervened as a leader under the current dynamics of the UCP’s internal caucus, especially given that we should govern as we prepare for a fast-approaching general election,” he said.
The vote for the leadership review of Mr. Kenney followed more than a year of internal fights in his caucus, including several MPs who openly called for his resignation, and pressure from election associations. Complaints range from the prime minister’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, with some from his party arguing that the province went too far with the restrictions, to criticism of what some saw as a style of top-down leadership.
To date, eight candidates have registered for Elections Alberta to run as the UCP leader. This includes former cabinet ministers Travis Toews, Rajan Sawhney, Rebecca Schulz and Leela Aheer, who was fired from office after openly criticizing Mr. Leadership. Kenney.
There is also in the race the rival of Mr. Kenney, Brian Jean, who previously led the Wildrose Party, co-founded the UCP and lost to Mr. Kenney in the race to lead the newly merged party in 2017.
Other candidates include Danielle Smith, the predecessor of Mr. Jean as leader of Wildrose; Independent MP Todd Loewen, who was expelled from the UCP caucus last year after urging Mr Kenney to resign; and Bill Rock, the mayor of the small rural community of Amisk, Alta.
A new CPU leader will be elected on October 6.
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