{"id":19742,"date":"2017-01-19T07:36:17","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T07:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=19742"},"modified":"2017-01-19T07:36:17","modified_gmt":"2017-01-19T07:36:17","slug":"shark-tank-star-launches-tory-leadership-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/shark-tank-star-launches-tory-leadership-bid.html","title":{"rendered":"Shark Tank star launches Tory leadership bid"},"content":{"rendered":"
Shark Tank star launches Tory leadership bid<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Canadian businessman and reality TV star Kevin O’Leary is running for the leadership of the federal Conservative party.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>He joins 13 other contenders in the crowded race.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr O’Leary, who appears on the reality show Shark Tank in the US and Dragon’s Den in Canada, has been seriously exploring a bid since December.<\/span>
\n He has drawn comparisons to Donald Trump for both his TV and business background and his boastful tendencies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper stepped down as party leader in November 2015 after losing the federal election to the Trudeau Liberals.<\/span>
\n Conservatives pick their new leader on 27 May.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr O’Leary, a Montreal-born investor and entrepreneur, is pitching himself as the business-minded, fiscally conservative candidate in the packed field of hopefuls.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I am a successful Canadian businessman with a great deal of international experience,” Mr O’Leary said in a media statement. “I am the only candidate who can beat Justin Trudeau.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump and Trudeau: Where leaders find common ground<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump and trade: A radical agenda?<\/span><\/p>\n

He is also positioning himself as the only contender who can stand up to US President-elect Donald Trump on cross-border issues like trade.<\/span><\/p>\n

While he has repeatedly praised Mr Trump and his tactics in interviews, Mr O’Leary has avoided the anti-immigrant rhetoric used by the American real estate magnate during the campaign and has said he does not support many of his policies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr O’Leary, born to Lebanese and Irish immigrants, has also criticised a proposal by fellow Conservative leadership contender Kellie Leitch to screen all immigrants for “Canadian values” as “un-Canadian”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, there are inescapable similarities between the two celebrity businessmen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr O’Leary is a self-promoting political outsider with no experience in elected office. He can be pointed on Twitter and has taken to referring to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a “surfer dude” on the social platform.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Shark Tank cast member is known to float unconventional ideas, including a recent proposal to let people buy seats in the Senate, the un-elected upper house of Parliament.<\/span><\/p>\n

He has been publicly toying with the idea of running to lead the Conservative party for months.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other candidates have been taking shots at him on the campaign trail, including Lisa Raitt, a veteran politician who launched a “Stop Kevin O’Leary” website earlier this month and has targeted him for his “irresponsible populism”.<\/span><\/p>\n

He has also been criticised for not speaking French, one of Canada’s official languages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bilingualism is convention among the country’s political leaders. Over seven millions Canadians, mostly in the province of Quebec, speak French as their mother-tongue.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Canadian mogul made his run official the day after the French-language only leadership debate in Quebec City.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rona Ambrose, a former Cabinet minister, is serving as interim Conservative leader until the party election in May.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-38659147<\/span><\/div>\n

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