{"id":116,"date":"2017-04-27T22:57:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-27T22:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/?p=116"},"modified":"2023-11-13T03:06:06","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T03:06:06","slug":"kevin-oleary-drops-out-of-canadian-conservative-party-leadership-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/kevin-oleary-drops-out-of-canadian-conservative-party-leadership-race","title":{"rendered":"Kevin O\u2019Leary drops out of Canadian Conservative Party leadership race"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Although he was at one point the front-runner, Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O\u2019Leary has announced he is dropping out of the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After reports first surfaced online Wednesday morning (April 26), O\u2019Leary took to Facebook with a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kevinolearytv\/posts\/1426038747460621\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a>\u00a0confirming his decision, citing a lack of momentum in <a href=\"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/tag\/quebec\">Quebec<\/a> and weak second-ballot support as his main obstacles going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_64 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/kevin-oleary-drops-out-of-canadian-conservative-party-leadership-race\/#Not_an_easy_decision\" title=\"Not an easy decision\">Not an easy decision<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/kevin-oleary-drops-out-of-canadian-conservative-party-leadership-race\/#Trudeaus_%E2%80%9Cworst_nightmare%E2%80%9D\" title=\"Trudeau\u2019s \u201cworst nightmare\u201d\">Trudeau\u2019s \u201cworst nightmare\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/kevin-oleary-drops-out-of-canadian-conservative-party-leadership-race\/#Quebec\" title=\"Quebec\">Quebec<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Not_an_easy_decision\"><\/span>Not an easy decision<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis was not an easy decision for me to make but after much thought and deliberation, it is the right one for the Conservative party and the country,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today would have been O\u2019Leary\u2019s last leadership debate before party members could cast their vote. The announcement came as a surprise to some supporters, who had received a much more optimistic email signed by the candidate just hours prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s your last chance to join our big fundraising push before I go on stage,\u201d the email read. \u201cI want to know you\u2019re in my corner. I\u2019m fired up, and I know you are too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Trudeaus_%E2%80%9Cworst_nightmare%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>Trudeau\u2019s \u201cworst nightmare\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since joining the race in January, much of O\u2019Leary\u2019s campaign has focused on tearing down Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He even pledged to be Trudeau\u2019s \u201cworst nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking at Ryerson on Mar. 15, O\u2019Leary had many criticisms of Trudeau. For one, he wanted to help Trudeau find his real calling \u201cbecause running the country isn\u2019t it.\u201d In response to some people\u2019s skepticism over his \u201cbusiness-first\u201d persona, he also asked students, \u201cWhy don\u2019t we bring some executional excellence to the business of running our country?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While O\u2019Leary told reporters on Wednesday afternoon he was confident in his abilities to win the party leadership, he added, \u201cIt\u2019s not good enough to win the leadership if you can\u2019t win the majority mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He continued this sentiment in his personal statement, writing, \u201cThe Conservative Party needs someone who has the best chance of beating Trudeau. Someone who will command the support of Canadians from every region of the country and who can build a consensus among all members of the Party.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Quebec\"><\/span>Quebec<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Earning votes in Quebec now was a crucial step for O\u2019Leary to come out on top in the next federal <a href=\"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/tag\/elections\">election<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLook at how many times Quebec has determined the federal outcome in elections in this country,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is the Florida of Canada; it often decides for the country for the very reason it has 78 ridings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His support in the province was further dampened by the fact that O\u2019Leary could not speak French.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking ahead, O\u2019Leary named his now-former competition, Quebec-born Maxime Bernier, as the candidate who has the most in common with his platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe is perhaps the first Conservative in a long time that has a chance of winning over 40 seats there, which would materially improve our chances for a majority mandate,\u201d O\u2019Leary wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Leary wants his supporters to join him in backing Bernier and stated that \u201c[t]ogether [they] will drive Justin Trudeau out of power in 2019, and [they] will work to get Canada\u2019s economy growing at 3 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite his insistence that relations with Bernier have been \u201cfriendly,\u201d CBC News noted that after O\u2019Leary and the Conservative Party cancelled over 1,350 fraudulent party memberships in March, Bernier accused O\u2019Leary of using the incident to divert attention away from his \u201closing\u201d campaign. \u201cKevin O\u2019Leary is a loser. I\u2019m a winner,\u201d Bernier wrote in an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Conservative Party leadership elections are on May 27. At this point, it is anyone\u2019s game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Watch our interviews with&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/2017\/03\/16\/in-conversation-with-kevin-oleary\/\" target=\"_blank\">Kevin O\u2019Leary<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/2017\/03\/26\/in-conversation-with-maxime-bernier\/\" target=\"_blank\">Maxime Bernier<\/a>&nbsp;for more on their platforms.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kevin O&#8217;leary stops becoming Trudeau\u2019s \u201cworst nightmare&#8221; as he drops out of electoral race. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12,37],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":468,"href":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions\/468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rutvnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}