By Evan Sumner

A growing number of Canadians are considering joining the Conservative Party of Canada, but not for the usual reasons. They are doing so solely for the opportunity to vote against current leadership front-runners like Kevin O’Leary. In what is perceived as an effort to pre-emptively avoid a so-called Canadian Donald Trump, many have reportedly joined already.

In the case of O’Leary, the superficial similarities are indisputable. O’Leary, like Trump, is a reality TV personality and a wealthy businessman with a tendency to stir up controversy.

While O’Leary is by no means a Trump clone – he doesn’t appear to be nearly as socially conservative^[1] http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/kevin-oleary-doesnt-seem-to-actually-be-a-trumpist-he-just-plays-one-on-tv – his primary sales pitch is very similar to Trump’s and something to be concerned about, i.e. that his experience in business means he can run the country better than any other candidate^[2] http://business.financialpost.com/news/kevin-olearys-business-history-back-in-spotlight-after-entering-race-for-conservative-party-leader.

Like Trump, it was O’Leary’s TV persona that made him famous not his business acumen. Also like Trump, despite some debate over his actual ability as a businessman, he nonetheless acquired a reputation as a successful, if somewhat unscrupulous, businessman.

One might think such a reputation would be at odds with running a country. Particularly when a primary drive of such businessmen is supposedly self-interest above all else. Or, put another way, to wilfully ignore the welfare of others, if it suits their interests. O’Leary’s history of business transactions, like Trump’s, is an excellent example of such an approach to business.^[3] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/kevin-oleary-hes-not-a-billionaire-he-just-plays-one-on-tv/article4564334/?page=all

The question then becomes why anyone would think a businessman like O’Leary could run a country? Ignoring the welfare of others hardly seems like the best way to run a country made up of others. The assumption, I suppose, must be that somehow O’Leary, and Trump for that matter, will conflate the welfare of the nation with his own should he be elected.

Yet the sad truth is in a world where perception can be all that matters a leader can easily continue to tout their effectiveness while the welfare of their nation declines – just take a closer look at North Korea and Russia. In public office, self-interest does not necessarily equate to the general well-being of those you govern.

In short, it doesn’t matter if O’Leary has a better understanding of business because a country is much more than a business. O’Leary needs to demonstrate he can empathize with those he proposes to govern and to date he hasn’t. The following 2014 quote from CBC’s The Lang & O’Leary Exchange is a case in point.

When informed that most of the world’s wealth was in the hands of just a few dozen people, O’Leary responded by saying he celebrated such a statistic because, “it inspires everybody, gets them motivation to look up to the one per cent and say ‘I want to become one of those people…” ^[4] thealbatross.ca/27691/kevin-o-leary-fantastic-news

O’Leary’s statement is illustrative of the level of delusion attainable when motivated by self-interest alone. It does not matter that he later retracted this statement due to public outcry, the point is that he made it at all.