OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper has given Conservative MPs permission to pick sides in current and upcoming provincial elections in Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec, but they must stick to supporting candidates in their own ridings, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Friday.
"Obviously, there are some provinces where federal Conservatives are supporting two or more provincial parties," he said.
"In those cases the prime minister has encouraged us to keep the focus on maintaining the unity of our federal coalition. Certainly, MPs are more than free to support the candidates they like in their own ridings, but we're trying to avoid being seen as intervening (in provincial politics), and that situation would certainly apply to Quebec and B.C., as well as Alberta."
Kenney said he and Harper will be neutral in the current Alberta campaign where Progressive Conservative Premier Alison Redford is facing a major challenge on her right-wing flank from Wildrose leader Danielle Smith.
The policy will also apply to the upcoming provincial campaigns expected next year in B.C. and Quebec, which also involve politicians at the provincial level competing for a pool of voters who support Harper's Tories federally.
In B.C., Liberal Premier Christy Clark's centre-right coalition is facing a serious challenge from ex-Tory MP John Cummins, who leads the new B.C. Conservative party. Polls suggest Cummins could carve off enough support from Clark to help New Democratic Party leader Adrian Dix win next spring's scheduled campaign.
In Quebec, federal Tory supporters are divided between Liberal Premier Jean Charest and his right-of-centre challenger Francois Legault, leader of the new Coalition Avenir Quebec.
"It's basically a policy of prudence," Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose said of Harper's policy.
Kenney and Ambrose acknowledged that MPs, party activists and supporters are split in Alberta between the PCs and Wildrose.
Alberta's 26 federal Tory MPs, along with independent Peter Goldring, were asked by email Friday if they would reveal their party preferences.
Democratic Reform Minister Tim Uppal, Leon Benoit and Ted Menzies all said they would remain neutral in the campaign.
The one exception was Ambrose, who said she's publicly endorsing deputy premier Doug Horner.
"I have a long-standing and very positive working relationship with Doug. I've been very outspoken that he's the best choice for my area."
Cummins said he doesn't know of any MPs who openly back his party.
But he said he would prefer if all 21 remain neutral.
"We're not interested. We don't want endorsements from federal MPs," he said.
"If they want to quietly endorse us, that's just fine. We'll hold the federal party to account when it comes to B.C. issues so we don't want to compromise them either.
"I think if we sought that endorsement, somehow or other you're somewhat beholden to these guys and we don't want to be in that position. We want to be in the position of making the best decisions for British Columbians and speaking up for British Columbians. We just ask for neutrality, not endorsements."
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