REUNION OF EX-DRAGONS
Tory leadership hopeful attacks policies that threaten growth
Former Dragons’ Den co-star Brett Wilson, left, chats with federal Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary before the Alberta Prosperity Fund luncheon in Calgary on Thursday.
Federal Conservative party leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary is vowing to “go to war” with Premier Rachel Notley and other provincial leaders if he doesn’t like their economic policies as prime minister.
The outspoken businessman and reality TV personality was speaking Thursday at a town hall event sponsored by the Alberta Prosperity Fund, a conservative political action committee.
O’Leary reiterated his pledge to cut federal transfers if provinces enact policies such as the Alberta NDP government’s carbon tax, which he believes curbs economic growth.
“The best outcome is to get rid of her and I’ll do everything I can,” O’Leary said of Notley, referring to the next provincial election set for 2019.
“If that’s not the case, I will definitely be punitive on transfer payments on health care. I’m going to have to push back. It’s going to be nasty. I have to get her back off this carbon tax because we just can’t attract capital ... I’ll go to war with her, trust me.”
Notley’s office declined to comment on O’Leary’s remarks. Alberta is slated to receive just over $5.7 billion in health and social transfers from Ottawa in the 201617 budget year.
O’Leary told the crowd of over 200 at the Metropolitan Centre that he will go after any province that gets in the way of his goal of three per cent annual economic growth. He took aim at Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne over energy policy and taxation, British Columbia’s Christy Clark for that province’s carbon tax — which he said is no longer revenue-neutral — and Nova Scotia for its ban on fracking.
The main object of his ire over the hour-long event, however, was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom he derided as having “no idea what he’s doing.”
O’Leary, who made his name on the television programs Dragons’ Den and Shark Tank, is viewed as one of the front-runners in the 14-candidate field to become Conservative leader, which will be decided May 27, despite living in the United States.
University of Calgary political scientist Anthony Sayers said he’s not sure if O’Leary’s threat around transfers is red-meat rhetoric designed to attract frustrated Conservative voters or illustrative of a lack of knowledge of the Canadian political system.
Sayers said a prime minister could likely cut transfers of wayward provinces — though it would be complex and it could be subject to legal challenges if it was seen as arbitrary — but the political repercussions would likely be significant.
Such a move would likely unite provinces together against Ottawa and would end up punishing the citizens of the affected province as much as the offending government, said Sayers, who studies Canadian federalism.
“It’s doable but very difficult,” he said.
“And to what effect? If you take out too much, all you do is ruin your relationship with the local voters. You might hurt Rachel Notley, perhaps, but actually you’re hurting Albertans.”
But Ken Hughes, a former Progressive Conservative MP and provincial cabinet minister who is advising O’Leary in Alberta, said the idea of cutting transfers is workable.
“It is a credible threat and it is a credible tool,” Hughes said in an interview following the event.
“The government of Canada only has influence in certain areas ... that are provincial jurisdiction because they use spending power. And so, there are ways to withhold resources as well.”
O’Leary is often compared to Donald Trump, who rode a highprofile business career and celebrity status into the White House.
But O’Leary said that beyond their backgrounds in business television, and their social media presence, he and the new United States president have little else in common.
He said that unlike Trump, he believes in free trade and immigration.
“I am not Trump in any way or measure,” said O’Leary.
“My strategy is to take advantage of our inclusiveness.”
The government of Canada only has influence in certain areas ... that are provincial jurisdiction because they use spending power.