CALGARY — Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney has quashed rumours that he will be running for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC).When asked by Politico about possibly running against current Tory leader Pierre Poilievre, Kenney on Friday bluntly denied he had any leadership aspirations or that he wanted to eventually be Prime Minister.“I can shut down the rumour: No, I will not,” he said, adding he had “paid my dues” after 25 years of public life and is currently happy with his roles in the private sector.“If anybody thinks of me in those terms, I guess I should say I’m flattered, but I don’t think of myself in those terms,” Kenney said.Rumours about Kenney’s possible political future were again raised earlier this week when he called on Conservatives to abandon the “slavish devotion to the supply management cartel,” which led some commentators to speculate that he was positioning himself for a CPC leadership run..Kenney blasts supply management 'cartel', calls on Conservatives to scrap current system .Kenney has said his recent public appearances have been motivated by concerns over Alberta’s political future regarding the independence movement and has argued that Alberta should avoid following Quebec’s sovereignty movement, which left that province “weaker and poorer.”"It's not because of any political ambition," he said."It's because I think I am in a unique position after 30 years as an activist and leader in the Conservative movement to say to those folks: 'Yes, we've got our frustrations, but damn it all, trying to follow Quebec's strategy of impoverishing itself is not how we're going to build a stronger Alberta in the future.'"The former premier has also urged Conservatives to recognize the positive policy shifts under Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal government, including support for new pipeline development and the rollback of several environmental policies introduced during former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s regime.
