麻豆视频

Is Souris-Moose Mountain Member of Parliament Robert Kitchen a better fit to lead the Conservative Party than Kevin O'Leary?

He might not have the name recognition of O'Leary, a celebrity entrepreneur, but that doesn't mean O'Leary is better suited to lead the party than Kitchen.

After all, Kitchen lives in Canada year-round. O'Leary doesn't. His residence is in Massachusetts, although he does return to Canada for business-related purposes and vacations.

Kitchen has been elected to public office. O'Leary has zero public sector experience.

While Kitchen isn't as wealthy as O'Leary, the local MP has enjoyed a successful business career as a chiropractor, and unlike O'Learly, Kitchen is generally well-liked by people he comes into contact with.

We鈥檙e not sure if Kitchen is fluent in French, but we know O鈥橪eary isn鈥檛, although the celebrity entrepreneur is working hard to learn Canada鈥檚 other language.

Of course, the first few paragraphs of this editorial are written in a tongue-and-cheek fashion. Please note that we鈥檙e not mocking Kitchen; we think very highly of him, his career as a chiropractor, his work in the community, and his efforts to serve the residents of this constituency, while holding a critic position, and hoping for the day when the Tories form government once again.

But you can't fault Canadians who wonder if their local MP is a better fit to lead the Tories than O'Leary, who is among the front-runners for the Tory leadership post, even though his focus has often remained with his business interests rather than the leadership race.

The Tory leadership race has felt like a never-ending story, but it鈥檚 one with public interest. There are still 14 candidates in the field. They have participated in a number of debates, as they try to differentiate themselves from the field with only a couple of months remaining before the leadership convention.

And it will be difficult for them to stand out as long as there are 14 options. Some of them represent the moderate, small-C conservatism that's more likely to resonate with a broader spectrum of votes; others bring the hard right ideals that would likely play better in the U.S.

To a certain extent, it鈥檚 likely a good thing that O鈥橪eary is in the race. After all, he鈥檚 provided a spark to the campaign. He has given the 13 other candidates something to rally around: their mutual desire to see O鈥橪eary defeated.

O鈥橪eary won鈥檛 be the next leader; the system for a leadership race is very different from the American system that allowed Trump to be the Republican candidate.

But at least there's interest in the Tory leadership race. We can't say the same about the New Democratic Party's leadership turtle derby. The winner of that "race" gets to be the person in charge of Canada鈥檚 third party in future elections.