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Controversial chief of staff Brian Topp is leaving Premier Rachel Notley’s office — and he’s heading east, not west.

Topp says he won’t help the B.C. NDP, which opposes the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, in the provincial election coming next May.

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No way, he says. He’ll stay right out of it. He vows to keep promoting Notley’s pipeline and climate change agenda to New Democrats everywhere.

“I’m always going to advocate for that,” he said in an interview. “Canada must get the best return for its resources. It’s crazy to allow your resources to be discounted.”

Topp said he’s heading back to Toronto for a fellowship at the Public Policy Forum, and looking forward to “putting my family back together again.” He makes another vow: he absolutely will not run for the leadership of the federal NDP, having tried that once before.

Topp, who got the key job shortly after the 2015 election, has been the most powerful chief of staff in Alberta’s recent history, charged with managing the transition to NDP government, finessing political challenges to Notley, and driving the massive policy shifts in environment, taxation and the electricity market.