Kevin O’Leary woos Conservatives in Kelowna

Kevin O’Leary was in Kelowna on Saturday, speaking to well over 400 Conservative Party members at the Coast Capri Hotel.

The leadership hopefull is in the running with 13 other candidates eager to replace interim leader Rona Ambrose who replaced Stephen Harper.

O’Leary says the Conservatives need to find a way to make the party more appealing to young people in order to win the next election.

“I have a 20-year-old son and 24-year-old daughter and they voted for Trudeau. I didn’t know it. I drove them to the polls,” O’Leary said.

His main platform is stimulating the economy.  O’ Leary promises three per cent annual economic growth, if he is elected as prime minister.

He’d like to see the carbon tax scrapped and oil and natural gas pipelines approved.

The Canadian business man and reality TV star says he’s often compared to U.S. President Donald Trump — and he says that’s not all bad.

“There is a valid comparison in the sense that we’ve built massive social media networks using reality television, me with Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den, he with The Apprentice, but that’s where the comparison ends.  I’m born of a Lebanese mother, an immigrant, and an immigrant Irishman father, so if there were walls on Canada, I wouldn’t exist.”

This leadership race is the first foray into politics for O’Leary but he doesn’t think his lack of political experience will be a deficit.

“They don’t want career politicians anymore that have had no execution excellence in their backgrounds,” O’Leary said.

Conservative members will vote for their next leader on May 27.