Say what you will about Kevin O’Leary’s bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, but you can’t deny he made it more interesting.
O’Leary officially dropped out of the race on April 26, a little more than a month before Tory members across the country are scheduled to select a new leader. O’Leary came under fire throughout the campaign for what seemed to be a lackluster effort – he was dodging French language debates and he still seemed more focused on his business interests – but at least people were talking more passionately about the campaign to be the next leader of the Official Opposition.
Without him, there are 13 candidates who have done little to distinguish themselves from the field. The average Canadian knows little about Maxime Bernier, Andrew Scheer, Erin O’Toole or most of the other candidates.
We really like Regina’s Scheer. Most people like Andrew Scheer. But he’s still not going to grab headlines or people’s attention like a Kevin O’Leary.
One candidate, Kellie Leitch, does get people talking, but it’s often for all the wrong reasons, thanks to her stance on immigration and her robotic campaign video from a few months ago.
O’Leary wasn’t going to win anyways. If the leadership race was set up similar to the American system, with primaries and the candidate with the most support winning, he might have had a chance.
But thanks to his inability to speak French, and the preferential ballot used at the convention, O’Leary’s bid was doomed to failure.
A preferential ballot might not work in a federal election, but we should be thankful it is used in a Tory leadership race.
O’Leary has been a very successful businessman whose natural charisma and combative personality have helped him gain celebrity status in this country, but that doesn’t make him someone who’s fit to be prime minister, or even in the public sector.
Many were concerned he would be elected the Tory leader after Donald Trump’s successful bid for the Republican presidential nod and, ultimately, Trump’s successful presidential campaign, but Canadian electoral practices are superior in many ways to their American counterparts, and Canadians, are, by nature, more moderate than Americans.
O’Leary has thrown his support behind Bernier, but that doesn’t mean Bernier is now a lock to be the next Tory leader. It remains to be seen how many O’Leary supporters were genuine Tory backers, and how many bought memberships because they wanted a celebrity prime minister.
His departure also leaves the Tory leadership race muddled once again. Most of the candidates are capable stewards, but none of them stand out. It would be nice to see Scheer become the next party leader, and he is the strongest candidate, but he isn’t the incredibly dynamic, engaging candidate who will draw people in should he become the next Tory leader.
