O’Leary eyes federal Conservative leadership

I was born on the 9^th of July, and it’s date I would just as soon not have to share with a couple of people. There’s O J Simpson who was born the very same day as me, and horror of horrors Kevin O’Leary who came along 7 years later. This nasty and noisy man epitomizes all that is undesirable about many things, especially so called reality television.

He first appeared as one of the nasty deep pockets on Dragon’s Den on CBC, and very quickly he was also picked up by Shark Tank, the show that panders to a very similar audience in the U.S. Now we hear that Kevin is inspired by the political popularity of his biggest hero, Donald Trump. He is seriously thinking about becoming the first candidate to replace Stephen Harper as leader of the federal Tories.

This would perhaps explain the rather ridiculous stunt he tried in Alberta this week. O’Leary promised to invest a million dollars in the oilpatch, IF NDP Premier Rachel Notley promised to resign. The reason he gave is Notley’s tardiness in completing a comprehensive review of oil royalty rates.

Hands up if you remember Ed Stelmach. He was a classic victim of bad timing when he was the Conservative Premier of Alberta in 2007. The price of oil was more than $140 a barrel. The premier jacked up royalty rates, but he had to back down barely a year later when dozens of drilling rigs moved next door to Saskatchewan where the government’s take was lower.

Was Kevin O’Leary among the folks who attacked poor old Ed and forced him to back down? Not that I’ve been able to find. Because his mother emigrated to Canada from Lebanon, O’Leary probably supports Justin Trudeau’s effort to resettle refugees from Syria. But on most other important issues, I would not be the least bit surprised if Kevin is on the same page as The Donald. And the scariest part for the Conservatives? He just might win.

Be careful what you wish for Canada.

I’m Roger Currie