O'Leary: 'You need a shark'

UPDATED: 2:35 p.m.

A brash businessman turned reality TV star turns his outsized appetite for success toward the most powerful position in federal politics.

Sound familiar?

Canadians could be forgiven if they felt a little deja vu, Wednesday, as Kevin O'Leary officially joined the Conservative leadership race, hoping his celebrity and private-sector experience will help him stand out from an already crowded field.

On that score — not unlike the president-elect south of the border with whom he is often compared — he should have no problem. One of the things he heard repeatedly from the 40,000 people who purportedly pushed him to run was that they want a prime minister who's not a politician.

"I've spent my whole life as an investor; I know what (Donald) Trump does, he knows what I do," O'Leary told The Canadian Press.

"I think we'll be very good together getting deals done because that's what matters."

Calgary businessman Len Baltiou, 50, one of the 40,000 people who reached out online to encourage O'Leary to run, agrees — so much so, in fact, that his comments ended up on a news release from the O'Leary campaign earlier this month.

But Baltiou, a self-described conservative, isn't actually a member of the party, nor does he plan to join, he said in an interview. Rather, he thinks O'Leary should run because none of the other 13 candidates would stand a chance against Trump.

"When you deal with a shark, you need a shark," he said — a reference to O'Leary's role on the U.S. reality TV show "Shark Tank," in which entrepreneurs compete for funding from a panel of would-be investors.

On television, people pitch their ideas to O'Leary. Now the shoe is on the other foot, with O'Leary pitching his ideas to Conservative party members, who will choose their new leader in May by way of a ranked-ballot election process.

A ranked ballot allows voters to make multiple choices. That means not only does O'Leary have to convince people to join the party to vote for him, but he also has to woo those supporting his rivals to check his name down-ballot.

Former Conservative Sen. Marjory LeBreton, a member of O'Leary's so-called exploratory committee, said a network of people is now fanning across Canada to engage riding associations, raise money and pave a campaign path for their candidate.

"It's late in the race," LeBreton acknowledged. "We've certainly got our work cut out for us."