Jason Kenney will resign as MP in October in order to unite Alberta

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Jason Kenney has pledged to resign from his seat in the House of Commons in October to prove he is committed to building a new right-leaning party in Alberta in hopes of ousting the provincial New Democratic Party from power.

On Thursday, Mr. Kenney said he will step down from his federal duties when the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party leadership race officially kicks off on Oct. 1, 2016. The Conservative MP, however, launched his leadership campaign Wednesday and has already created a fundraising machine to cover costs before the race legally begins.

The former federal cabinet minister said by leaving Ottawa, he is breaking tradition. Other elected officials like those who may challenge him, Mr. Kenney said, run for new positions without resigning from their current jobs.

"I'm going to depart from that convention to clearly demonstrate how committed I am to this project of uniting Albertans," he told reporters in Edmonton. "For me, there's no going back."

Mr. Kenney's decision to collect an MP's salary while campaigning provincially had angered critics, who said it was an inappropriate use of taxpayers' money.

The leadership hopeful said he wants to return to the House of Commons in September so he can say farewell to colleagues, stick up for pipelines, support the energy industry and oppose Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's payroll tax plans. Mr. Kenney, who was first elected to Ottawa in 1997, represents Calgary Midnapore.

Mr. Kenney hopes to win the PC leadership race in March of 2017, negotiate a union with the Wildrose Party, then run for the leadership of the party that emerges from those discussions. "I'm not hedging my bets," he said. "I will be leaving my seat in Parliament."

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a fiscal watchdog, believes the former cabinet minister should take an unpaid leave while he is campaigning to lead the Alberta PCs. Mr. Kenney is a former federal director of the federation.

The CTF also said it was inappropriate for Mr. Kenney's non-partisan federal website to link to the politician's campaign page. That link violated federal rules, a government official said in response to questions from The Globe and Mail. It was removed Thursday.

Mr. Kenney is steadfast that right-leaning voters must unite to defeat Premier Rachel Notley's NDP government in the next provincial election, scheduled for 2019. Mr. Kenney has railed against the NDP's carbon levy, coal policy and approach to taxes. Mr. Kenney said he believes a second mandate for the left-leaning party would be "catastrophic" for Alberta.

The federal politician is the only person who has declared his intention to run. He will use a political action committee named "Unite Alberta" to raise money and cover expenses before the race is officially under way in October. Unite Alberta, he said, will raise money using the same rules that were in place for the last leadership race.

"We will only receive contributions into that fund that come from individual residents of Alberta. Not from corporations, or not from outside the province. We also intend to limit the contributions to $30,000." Once the race legally begins, Mr. Kenney and his competitors will be bound by fundraising rules imposed by the party.

Mr. Kenney has been on the campaign trail for two days, with stops in Edmonton, Grande Prairie and Calgary. He repeatedly argues unity on the right is possible in Alberta in the same way the federal Conservative Party emerged out of the Reform Party, Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party. If Mr. Kenney can smooth over the fractures, he thinks it would be wise for Alberta's Progressive Conservatives to rebrand.

"The Conservative Party of Alberta has a nice ring to it," he said. "That's what's worked for us federally. And it is broad, it's clear, it's simple. So yes, I think that would certainly be a good choice."