Premier Doug Ford insists he has no interest in leaving Queen’s Park to launch a bid to become prime minister of Canada.

“No, what I want to do is fix the province,” Ford told reporters Tuesday as he marked his 54th birthday.

“I have a great team. I am zoned in on this province, nothing else, not federally — nothing but fixing the financial mess that we inherited and I’m going to focus on that,” the premier said, referring to the $14.5-billion deficit.

“We have an incredible team that works day in and day out and we’re going to balance (the budget).”

Privately, Ford’s associates have been encouraging him to vie for the federal Conservative leadership if Tory Leader Andrew Scheer fails to stop Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals from being re-elected next year.

“As long as Prime Minister Trudeau wants to work with us … I’ll welcome him with open arms,” the premier said.

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“No, I’m not gunning for him. He has his differences; I have mine. But, at the end of the day, we want to do the best thing for Ontario and I think we’ll come to a good conclusion here.”

Sworn in as premier five months ago, Ford has earmarked $30 million for a constitutional challenge of Trudeau’s carbon-pricing plan, which takes effect next year.

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He has shown an increasing interest in national affairs, hosting Scheer as a keynote speaker at the provincial Progressive Conservative convention last weekend in Toronto.

But NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Ford should “focus more on the urgent needs that Ontario families are facing rather than putting his toe into federal politics on a consistent basis.”

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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