Dragon could heat up Tory race
Reality TV star Guzzo mulling leadership bid
No political race can be considered complete these days unless a reality TV star is running. Fortunately for the Conservative Party, Dragons’ Den investor Vincenzo Guzzo is seriously considering becoming a candidate.
The Montreal-based entrepreneur, aka Mr. Sunshine on account of his proclivity for wearing yellow, says he is in “reflective mode.” He has been given pause for thought by the party’s organizational disarray — “it’s a bit of a s-tshow”, is how Guzzo frames it — and by the interest of former Quebec premier Jean Charest — who the Cinéma Guzzo boss considers has the political experience to make a difference at the next election.
But frustration at the current state of politics and an assured belief in his own abilities means he is not merely indulging himself in idle musing. “I’m not looking for a job or to position myself as a good number two in a future government … I’m not looking for fame. I’m as known as I need to be,” said the flamboyant 50-year-old, who has completed his second season as a dragon.
Guzzo is self-aware enough to recognize the inevitable comparisons people will make but insists there are two things he is not: “I am not Kevin O’Leary. And I’m no Donald Trump. I don’t have to tweet stupidities … The closest connection Kevin O’Leary and I have is that we appeared in the same show.”
Yet like O’Leary, he takes a dim view of most career politicians. “The big tipping point for me is that we can’t continue like this — being governed by people with zero managerial skills. Whether the left like the analogy or not, running a government is like running a huge corporation,” he said.
“The last election, it’s sad to say, was between a drama teacher with 12 years of political experience and an insurance salesman with 20 years of political experience.”
He scoffed at claims made by the Trudeau government that racking up deficits of $26 billion is required to “invest” in the future of Canadians, pointing out that the accumulation of federal, provincial and municipal debt makes Canada “very over-leveraged”.
Guzzo’s involvement in Conservative politics go back to his school days as president of a Young Conservatives chapter. He subsequently earned an economics degree at Western University in London, Ont., and a law degree at the Université de Montréal, before joining his father’s movie theatre business. Cinéma Guzzo is now the largest movie operator in Quebec, also operating a construction and restaurant business.
Guzzo’s most recent brush with frontline politics came when Mélanie Joly, the then heritage minister, criticized him on Twitter for screening the anti-abortion movie, Unplanned, in his theatres. “This is not a question of freedom of expression but a political decision that is dangerous for women’s rights,” she said.
Guzzo, who says he believes in a women’s right to choose, sees things differently. “I didn’t appreciate being bullied by the extreme left,” he said. “There is a sense that the left will bully everyone and say ‘be quiet’ if you are not politically correct. But sometimes it might be an idea to let people talk — you might learn something.”
Guzzo’s appeal to the Dragons’ Den producers is his frankness, which may prove to be less of a boon if he plunges into politics. He confesses that the opposition of many Westerners to a gun registry “confuses me”. “I have 12 firearms, all registered, to shoot skeet. I have no problem registering those firearms,” he said.
Guzzo offers less a coherent set of policies than a belief that his entrepreneurial experience should be put at the country’s disposal. “In some sense, this is very non-selfish. I have five kids who I may be exposing to insults in the media and undue scrutiny. But I asked them, ‘Do you think daddy can bring something that can make Canada a better country? Can we make it greater than it is?’ The kids were 100 per cent supportive, except my nine-year-old daughter who doesn’t want to live in Ottawa,” he said.
Unlikely as a Guzzo candidacy might seem at first sight, he does possess certain advantages over a number of his rivals — he speaks both official languages fluently (he also speaks Italian). “But it’s more than that. You have to be able to speak French and think in French. In the debate, Andrew (Scheer) had to think in English and then translate into French. He was two seconds behind the game the whole night,” he said.
Guzzo admits that while most of the calls he is receiving are encouraging, there are also words of caution that he should be a kingmaker, rather than trying to be the king.
Despite his dismissal of the comparison with O’Leary, it is apt because both men were fascinated with the idea of applying managerial techniques that work in business to the world of politics. But the long history of successful executives failing as candidates suggests the skills are not easy to transfer.
The next Conservative leader will likely have been steeped in the party’s politics, its traditions and its geography. Members will elect a parliamentary leader, not a president, in a Westminster system where party brands are more important than party leaders when it comes to winning elections.
The ranked ballot system the Conservatives will use to choose the next leader means that candidates need to play well with others to win second ballot support.
None of those factors helps Guzzo, who revels in his brashness and “brutal honesty”. But his entry should be encouraged, and not only because he has a colourful sock collection that might rival the prime minister’s. Conservative politics in this country could do with an inflow of entrepreneurial thinking.