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Jason Kenney should resign: federal NDP

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[Alberta Conservative MP Jason Kenney announcing that he will seek the leadership of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative party, July 6 / THE CANADIAN PRESS]

The NDP have asked the federal ethics commissioner to weigh in on Conservative MP Jason Kenney’s bid for the provincial Progressive Conservative party leadership in Alberta.

Kenney launched a Unity Tour to unite the Alberta right on Monday, with plans to criss-cross the province in the coming months.

The Alberta Progressive Conservative Party will select a new leader next spring and Kenney is in the running.

He remains, though, the federal Conservative MP for Calgary Midnapore – a riding he’s represented for nearly two decades.

“It’s totally inappropriate,” says Alexandre Boulerice, the NDP’s ethics critic in Ottawa. “He should resign.”

Federal MPs earn a basic monthly salary of $13,950.

“It’s a waste of taxpayer’s money and it’s funny to see someone claiming to be there to represent the taxpayer using federal money to make a provincial campaign,” he tells Yahoo Canada News.

“Mr. Kenney is not running as a federal leader for the Conservative party. He’s running for the provincial leadership of the Conservative party so, in that situation, he should resign as a federal MP because he’s not doing his job anymore.”

Boulerice says he has asked the ethics commissioner for an opinion but he has not yet heard back.

“We want the opinion of the ethics commission on this,” Boulerice says. “The behaviour of Mr. Kenney is not respectful of the Canadian taxpayer.”

With Parliament adjourned for the summer, Boulerice says he has not been able to press Kenney’s Conservative colleagues to respond on the issue.

“I would love to hear from one of them,” he says.

Tory whip Gordon Brown did not respond to a request for an interview from Yahoo Canada News.

A spokesman for Kenney says the MP has stated that it is his intention to resign his federal seat when the PC leadership formally begins Oct. 1 - long before there is any certainty concerning the provincial leadership.

Since Confederation, Blaise Boehmer says, 35 federal MPs have run for provincial party leadership without stepping down, including Jean Charest, Brian Tobin, Catherine Callbeck and Bob Rae.

“Mr. Kenney has opted to break with this convention to clearly demonstrate how committed he is to this project of uniting Albertans,” Boehmer tells Yahoo Canada News in an email.

Kenney has several projects he would like to finish before resigning, he adds. He will return to Ottawa this fall for Parliamentary business, including Question Period and the special commitee on electoral reform.

“There, he will continue to stand up for his constituents – and all Albertans – on issues of importance to them,” says Boehmer, director of communications for Kenney’s Unite Alberta campaign.

The former immigration minister, once touted as a contender to succeed former Prime Minister Stephen Harper federally, has the endorsement of Harper and interim federal leader Rona Ambrose for his provincial bid.

In announcing his Unity Tour, the long-time MP says he intends to visit all 87 constituencies and every major community in the province at least once.

He began in Edmonton on Monday and says he will tour the province in his pickup truck throughout the rest of the summer and fall.

Kenney hopes to unite the Alberta Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties.

“As I criss-­cross the province in the months ahead, I look forward to meeting up with Albertans around kitchen tables to discuss how we can get this province back on track, and restore the Alberta Advantage,” he says in a statement.

Dave Beninger, a frequent social media commentator on Alberta politics, says he asked Kenney about continuing as a federal MP at the Edmonton tour launch.

“After all it is my belief that the constituents of Calgary Midnapore deserve a Member of Parliament who does not already have one foot out the door. Would any other employer allow their employee to accept a salary while they were spending months trying to get another job with a different company?” Beninger writes in a Facebook post.