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Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan has long denied interest in becoming Liberal Leader, but may face pressure to run.Moe Doiron/The Globe and Mail

Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan on Monday said he is open to running for a seat in federal politics.

"I would certainly keep an open mind to that, but I haven't made a decision yet," the provincial Liberal told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Toronto. In October, Mr. Duncan said he would retire from provincial politics and would not run in the next election.

While Mr. Duncan said he is considering running federally, he said he has not consulted Justin Trudeau, one of the early front runners for the federal Liberal leadership.

"I've known Justin for a number of years. I offered to help on his leadership campaign," Mr. Duncan said. "We haven't even talked about me running."

Mr. Duncan said he would sign up as a federal candidate depending on "the direction of the country and where I'm at in my own life." He declined to say whether his interest would rise if Mr. Trudeau won the leadership battle.

"I've made a decision to leave public life because I needed a bit of a change, but when I announced back in October, I said I would certainly keep the door open to that kind of opportunity," he said.

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