The celebrity
Name: Kevin O’Leary Age: 62 Current job: TV personality, businessman A provocative businessman and television personality, Kevin O’Leary might be the only candidate in the Conservative leadership race that needs no introduction.
For years, O’Leary co-hosted a business news show on CBC and appeared on the network’s Dragon’s Den reality show. Over that time, the Montreal-born 62-year-old cultivated an image of a clear-eyed and hard-nosed defender of the free market, making controversial comments about the upside of global poverty and banning unions.
But that was all in the past, O’Leary said when he officially joined the Conservative leadership race.
“Absurd policy, great television,” O’Leary told the Star in January, trying to draw a distinction between what he’s said on national television and the policies he’ll put forward as a leadership candidate.
Even before officially entering the race, O’Leary was polling favourably against his rivals. His name recognition — and the willingness of news outlets to run “will he or won’t he?” stories — allowed O’Leary to stay out of the race until after the party’s French debate in Quebec City last month.
Since then, O’Leary has been splitting his time between Canada and the United States (he has, in the past, referred to Boston as “home”), while continuing to livetweet his appearances on NBC’s Shark Tank.
From a policy perspective, O’Leary hasn’t kept within traditional conservative lines. He opposes the Liberals’ carbon tax plan, but recently mused about jailing executives whose companies failed to reach emissions targets. He told Ottawa’s CFRA radio station there’s “nothing proud about being a warrior” while discussing Canada’s military and peacekeeping legacy, drawing fire from leadership rivals.
His main pitch is on economic issues. O’Leary has railed against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s deficit spending plans. He has selectively used long-term projections from the finance department to warn against growing the national debt (the analysis projected Canada’s economy would grow faster than the debt) to back up his argument that Canadians can’t afford to re-elect the Liberals in 2019. Chance of winning: He has consistently polled in the front of the pack, but it remains to be seen whether he can translate favourable polls into grassroots votes. But honestly, after Donald Trump became president, should we really be making predictions? —Alex Boutilier