Advisers urge O’Leary to run
OT TAWA • Kevin O’Leary’s “exploratory committee” is urging him to run for Conservative leadership, but he still says “too many” are in the race and hasn’t announced a final decision.
In a report Thursday, Conservative heavyweights including ex- Ontario premier Mike Harris say they see a “clear path to victory” for the businessman and TV personality.
Chair Mike Coates, a longtime Tory strategist, said in a statement the committee “received overwhelming support” from current and potential party members for an O’Leary candidacy.
Still, despite having tested the waters with several Facebook live appearances and an “O’Leary for Canada” website, the mogul says he will take another few days to consider the recommendation. “This is a big decision for me and my family,” he told the National Post in an email.
O’Leary’s posturing has been met with considerable skepticism since he has not yet made any formal moves to enter the race, including paying an initial registration fee and signing up with Elections Canada.
But other candidates are taking him seriously, not least because of his considerable name recognition. Ontario MP Lisa Raitt l aunched a “Stop Kevin O’Leary” website last week, part of what she called an effort to counter populist statements from him and another Ontario MP, Kellie Leitch.
O’Leary confirmed Thursday he will not attend next Tuesday’s leadership debate in Quebec City along with the 13 existing contestants, not all of whom are bilingual.
“Out of respect for Quebec and French Canadians, I feel it makes more sense to abstain from the French debate until I am more proficient,” he said in a state- ment, adding he is “committed to learning French again .” In a followup to the Post, he added he feels there are “still too many in the race for any substantive interchange regarding new ideas.”
O’Leary previously said he wants to wait until as few as four or five candidates remain in the running. But with a Feb. 24 deadline to enter the field rapidly approaching, that may not happen in time.
Advisers, including former senator Marjory LeBreton and current MP Guy Lauzon, were “surprised” by high support in the 18-24 age demographic, according to their letter to O’Leary, and identified a “yearning” in the party for “someone who is not a career politician.”
Ken Hughes, a former MP and cabinet minister in the last Tory government in Alberta, said Thursday he’s seen “a lot of enthusiasm for somebody who understands how the economy works” in Western Canada.
“This is about opening up the Conservative Party to a wide range of people who so far haven’t been engaged by the leadership process,” he said in an interview. “Mr. O’Leary’s name recognition is an unmatched asset.”
Amid some comparisons between O’ Leary and U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, based on their profiles as political outsiders, Hughes said t here are “very few parallels,” calling O’Leary a “mainstream Canadian in his approach” and someone whom party veterans could support.
“He will surround himself with people who actually, who really know how to make the trains run on time,” Hughes said.
If O’Leary runs, it is expected consultant Chris Rougier will serve as campaign manager, while lawyer Perry Dellelce and wine importer Todd Halpern will head up fundraising efforts.
Conservatives will choose a new leader May 27.