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| Kevin O'Leary in his Shark Tank pose some are fond of his financial advice, but on Canadian military history he might need a bit more work (photo from O'Leary promotional material) |
But suffice to say, through them, it indicates that the businessman contemplating a run for the leadership of Canada's Conservative party has a certain lack of knowledge of Canada's standing through it's near 150 years of history as a nation.
One of the star's of Canada's Dragon's Den program as well as from the American show Shark Tank, O'Leary swam into some pretty uncharted waters with his comments appearance on the air with Ottawa radio station CFRA.
During the course of a conversation related to Syria with guest host Kristy Cameron, O'Leary called upon the honourable past work of Canadian military forces in peacekeeping duties, something which is worthy of a salute and probably was where he should have concluded his theme.
Instead he continue on with an expansion of his concepts of Canada's military focus and where he gets into trouble was when he suggested that peace keeping should be the only focus for the Canadian military, stating that there is "there is nothing proud about being a warrior", a comment which may even have caught Ms. Cameron by surprise, allowing for a gap of silence in which you could almost hear the wind whistling by O'Leary's political career.
Listen here
For many, O'Leary's commentary would appear to in effect have given the middle finger to the efforts of Canadians who answered their nations call of the past and fought through many military conflicts through the generations.
During the course of a conversation related to Syria with guest host Kristy Cameron, O'Leary called upon the honourable past work of Canadian military forces in peacekeeping duties, something which is worthy of a salute and probably was where he should have concluded his theme.
Instead he continue on with an expansion of his concepts of Canada's military focus and where he gets into trouble was when he suggested that peace keeping should be the only focus for the Canadian military, stating that there is "there is nothing proud about being a warrior", a comment which may even have caught Ms. Cameron by surprise, allowing for a gap of silence in which you could almost hear the wind whistling by O'Leary's political career.
Listen here
For many, O'Leary's commentary would appear to in effect have given the middle finger to the efforts of Canadians who answered their nations call of the past and fought through many military conflicts through the generations.
No one would question the theme that we have a solid reputation in the realm of peace keeping, but sometimes the world has asked for a little bit more and on those occasions, Canada has more than done its share.
The cemeteries across the nation, those of the battlefields of Europe and the Cenotaphs across the land making for a lasting testimony of respect for those who served their nation.
Another surprising element of O'Leary's current world view is, that while peace keeping is a task Canadians have proven to be well suited towards, the world today is sort of leaning in a different direction than that of the past.
As a global community, we currently seem to be mired in an era where the concept of peace has been left in the dust of some of the challenges posed by any number of clearly dangerous and violent groups, a collective that clearly have no conscience or soul and probably don't have much to offer when it comes to any peace keeping concept.
The cemeteries across the nation, those of the battlefields of Europe and the Cenotaphs across the land making for a lasting testimony of respect for those who served their nation.
Another surprising element of O'Leary's current world view is, that while peace keeping is a task Canadians have proven to be well suited towards, the world today is sort of leaning in a different direction than that of the past.
As a global community, we currently seem to be mired in an era where the concept of peace has been left in the dust of some of the challenges posed by any number of clearly dangerous and violent groups, a collective that clearly have no conscience or soul and probably don't have much to offer when it comes to any peace keeping concept.
Not surprisingly, and in a backlash well deserved and solely of his own making, the bombastic television star is quickly learning that Canadians aren't as quick to dismiss our military history as he might be.
Now perhaps, his comments coming as they did over a weekend before the Christmas holidays go into full flight, he may have been hoping that no one may have noticed them.
But an observation of this note deserves to be distributed as widely as possible, so let's help him out a bit by keeping the theme of his oral essay alive.
Mr. O'Leary has already accumulated some eyebrow raising looks for his non-campaign, campaign.
Whether it's for his apparent attempt to follow the political blue print of Donald Trump's rise to power, or through his ability to somehow not exactly know the name of that place where Canadian politicians conduct their business.
All in all, should he persist in his ambition, his political slogan may in the end become:
"O'Leary, where the foot meets the mouth"
From his early positioning points it would seem that he's a little out of touch with the country he would like to lead one day.
Though the current roster of wold be Tory leaders are no doubt hoping he just keeps on keeping on, with many of his would be competitors in the quest for the leadership quest quick to capitalize on his gaffes.
Now perhaps, his comments coming as they did over a weekend before the Christmas holidays go into full flight, he may have been hoping that no one may have noticed them.
But an observation of this note deserves to be distributed as widely as possible, so let's help him out a bit by keeping the theme of his oral essay alive.
Mr. O'Leary has already accumulated some eyebrow raising looks for his non-campaign, campaign.
Whether it's for his apparent attempt to follow the political blue print of Donald Trump's rise to power, or through his ability to somehow not exactly know the name of that place where Canadian politicians conduct their business.
All in all, should he persist in his ambition, his political slogan may in the end become:
"O'Leary, where the foot meets the mouth"
From his early positioning points it would seem that he's a little out of touch with the country he would like to lead one day.
Though the current roster of wold be Tory leaders are no doubt hoping he just keeps on keeping on, with many of his would be competitors in the quest for the leadership quest quick to capitalize on his gaffes.
Former Dragon breathes fire at Kevin O'Leary
Tory Leadership candidates condemn Kevin O'Leary for comments on military
O'Leary's military comments 'disturbing,' O'Toole
The Conservative Party doesn't need Kevin O'Leary
O'Leary criticized for peacekeeping comments
As it is, the number of those looking to replace Stephen Harper as leader of the Conservatives had already reached somewhat of an unworkable (and for the most part unremarkable) number for Canadians to take notice in.
So, if a few might drop off so much the better ... Kevin, Kellie feel free to start the parade off the Ark.
In the end, one hopes that calling in from Boston for his allotted time at CFRA over the weekend has been beneficial for him, delivering some free polling advice that might make it obvious that perhaps he should save some of that accumulated cash of his and forget about the prospect of leading the party.
So, if a few might drop off so much the better ... Kevin, Kellie feel free to start the parade off the Ark.
In the end, one hopes that calling in from Boston for his allotted time at CFRA over the weekend has been beneficial for him, delivering some free polling advice that might make it obvious that perhaps he should save some of that accumulated cash of his and forget about the prospect of leading the party.
You only get so many chances to make an impression and so far O'Leary is sending more than a few wrong messages for Conservatives, let alone Canadians, providing no indication that he may have something to offer the party, let alone the country.
Since he'll have some time on his hands over the holidays, here's a selection of some books he can catch up on his reading with.
Perhaps they'll be instructive for him and offer up a chance to learn a bit more of the country he seemingly knows very little about.
Perhaps they'll be instructive for him and offer up a chance to learn a bit more of the country he seemingly knows very little about.
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