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The Calgary Midnapore MP admits he is frustrated with the Wildrose and PC parties, which both intend to forge ahead on their own.

“It is frustrating not just for me but I think for a couple of million Albertans who want a competent, free-enterprise government and are frustrated that institutional stasis and egos and bad blood seem to be getting in the way of that,” said Kenney, who was first elected as a Reform MP in 1997.

“I would hope people would take a more tolerant, broad-minded approach to building a coalition, a diverse coalition, just like we did with the Conservative Party of Canada.”

Kenney said bringing together Alberta conservatives should be easier than the “infinitely more difficult” unification of the Canadian Alliance and federal PCs to form the Conservative party, given the multiple jurisdictions, two official languages and lengthier history that was involved nationally.

The veteran MP must still decide whether he will throw his hat in the ring for the leadership of the federal Conservatives, who will select their next leader in May of 2017.

While Kenney would likely be a formidable figure in the leadership race, he said he’s balancing out both personal and political factors as he decides whether to run.

He said he’s not concerned about whether there is a candidate from Alberta in the national race but believes the next leader must be fluently bilingual and able to transcend the regional divides in the country.

“I believe it’s important to have somebody with strong convictions, a conviction conservative in this race and I don’t think there’s much appetite in our party to go back to a sort of retro-’70s Joe Clark idea of Canadian conservatism,” he said.

Though Kenney has a few different political choices ahead of him, he has ruled out one option.

While he’s recently been tweeting his concerns about Calgary property tax rates and bike lanes, Kenney says he’s won’t run for mayor in 2017.

“Definitely not,” he said with a laugh.

jwood@postmedia.com