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Carter said he has been friends with Jansen since they both worked on Redford’s 2011 Tory leadership campaign, which scored a major upset victory.

Jansen said Monday she hasn’t made a final decision on whether to throw her hat in the ring or on what role Carter would play if she is a candidate.

“Stephen is a friend and I think he has a perspective I find interesting and I’m encouraged by the fact he wants to help me, (along with) a great number of other people with leadership experience,” she said.

Conservative MP Jason Kenney is the only declared candidate so far in the PC leadership race, though former provincial cabinet minister Donna Kennedy-Glans has also indicated she will run.

Another potential leadership candidate, Doug Schweitzer, sent an email to supporters on Monday announcing he would not run, citing concerns about “the party’s commitment to a fair leadership process.”

The PCs will pick a new leader at a delegated convention next March.

Kenney is running on a platform of uniting the PCs and the Wildrose into a new party and Jansen and Carter have been outspoken critics of that plan.

Carter indicated he was backing Jansen on the latest episode of “The Strategists” podcast, noting that “I want to kick the s–t out of Jason Kenney.”

He did not back away from the comments Monday.

“I have said it from the beginning,” said Carter.

“First of all, I’m not a big fan of Jason’s. Secondly, I think that the unite-the-right is such a simplistic and wrong-headed idea. It just does not reflect where Albertans are today.”