If there was any redemption for the Dragons’ Den show on CBC television it was not financier Kevin O’Leary. He represented what we have always seen as the weakness of Canadian venture capitalists. He always seemed to represent the type of venture fund that demands to put their own face on the ideas of others.
But then it might have been the simplicity of the show and the implied ease of raising venture capital that was vulgar. The program might be improved without O’Leary’s presence. He is now debating a run at the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. He admits he got the idea from Donald Trump.
But it is hardly that simple Mr. O’Leary. Setting aside the fact that you do not speak French and have no idea what is involved in becoming leader of a political party, you obviously do not have the temperament for the job.
You started with the foolish gaffe of insulting the Premier of Alberta. You can hardly throw money at Albertans and say their premier has to resign. That was crude.
There is a long list of rich and supposedly powerful people from all parts of Canada who thought they could buy their way into power. There are a lot of failures on that list. They were all out of their depth.
And you should never confuse American with Canadian politics. There are some similarities but the differences are what count. The American primary system is a marathon. In comparison, Canadian party leadership races are a sprint.
But it took Brian Mulroney two tries to beat Joe Clark. Even then, there was a tremendous amount of back-stabbing done in between.
And if you think meeting a payroll is the measure of someone who wants to run the country you are absolutely wrong. The most effective politicians are the ones who can identify with their target audiences in the same way as the most effective business leaders are the ones who can identify with their target markets.
The thing you need to consider Mr. O’Leary is that Donald Trump must pay a great deal for the political advice that he so obviously ignores. The reason is that he is not really running to be President. He is running to be Donald Trump. What are you running for?
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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