BR-BOOKS-Harper

OTTAWA — Former prime minister Stephen Harper says he offered Mark Carney a role in his Conservative government in 2012 — but it was not an immediate invitation to become the new finance minister.

In his new book, Here for Canada: Memoirs of the 22nd Prime Minister, Harper writes that he told Carney the position of finance minister was already taken but Carney would be next in line for the role.

Harper tells that story in his nearly 650-page memoir, released today, which spans decades of political history, including the creation of the modern Conservative party.

The former prime minister writes that he debated stepping down as party leader in the summer of 2014 before deciding to try for a fourth term in the 2015 election.