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OTTAWA — Veteran Tory MP Michael Chong has scheduled a news conference for Monday in Ottawa, when it’s expected he’ll officially announce his bid for the federal Conservative leadership.

Chong will be joined by his family at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa to “make an important announcement on the future of the Conservative Party of Canada,” according to a media advisory issued Friday afternoon.

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Chong, a former cabinet minister in the early days of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, would join fellow Tory MPs Maxime Bernier and Kellie Leitch as the first candidates to announce their campaigns for the party crown.

Other former Conservative ministers — the likes of Jason Kenney, Peter MacKay, Tony Clement and Lisa Raitt — are also weighing potential leadership bids.

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Chong, 44, would join a leadership race that is more a marathon than a sprint. The campaign will last more than a year and culminate with a leadership election on May 27, 2017.