The race to pick the next leader of the federal Conservative party heated up in Edmonton Tuesday night, as 13 of 14 contenders faced-off in a bilingual debate.
Meanwhile, the most high-profile member of the group, Kevin O’Leary, spoke to supporters across the street.
O’Leary dropped out of the event, after objecting to the format.
The night saw many of the candidates agree on increased defense spending, scrapping carbon taxes and stopping illegal border crossing.
Three candidates were targeted by the others: Michael Chong for his support of a revenue-neutral carbon tax, O’Leary for skipping the debate, and Kellie Leitch for her policy to screen all newcomers for so-called “Canadian values.”
Former Immigration Leader Chris Alexander was among those who took a swipe at Leitch.
“One of my colleagues on this stage (is) implying that for 10 years Stephen Harper, Jason Kenney and the rest of us did not screen immigrants for Canadian values for national security and for criminality. We did that, we made the system better.” he said.
O’Leary, hosting a “fireside chat” at a nearby hotel, said he’d fire Alberta Premier Rachel Notley if she worked for him.
“Mediocrity and incompetence blended into one drink.” he said.
Opponents accused the businessman of staying away from the debate because of his inability to speak French.
