Kevin O’Leary’s support in spurring on Donald Trump’s quest to merge Canada and the U.S. is nothing short of traitorous to his country and indicative of a complete disregard for his homeland’s desires.
This comes in the wake of U.S. president-elect Trump’s comments over wanting to transform Canada into the “51st state.” While these comments have been dismissed as a joke by Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, they become increasingly concerning every time the temperamental and short-sighted president-elect mentions the possibility on Truth Social.
As if that wasn’t enough, Canadian multimillionaire and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary has taken it upon himself to negotiate on his country’s behalf in support of Trump’s twisted vision.
O’Leary’s support of a U.S.-annexed Canada seems to be motivated by a strengthened economic union between the two countries — in other words, it will likely mean more money in his pocket, even if it comes at the expense of what everyday Canadians want for themselves including access to universal healthcare.
O’Leary claims “at least half of Canadians are interested” in the idea of joining the U.S. This baffling claim is verifiably untrue given that a recent poll suggests only 13 per cent of Canadians are interested in Trump’s idea of merging the countries.
Whether O’Leary is flat-out lying or he actually somehow believes this to be true remains uncertain, but what is clear is that he’s speaking almost entirely on his own behalf while claiming to represent the interests of many Canadians.
It’s one thing to voice your opinions online. It’s another thing entirely, however, to use your massive wealth to artificially insert yourself into the direct conversation.
O’Leary has announced his intention to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago to move this conversation forward, effectively speaking on behalf of 40 million people that didn’t elect him and clearly don’t share his interests. The fact that an unelected citizen can join such an important conversation simply through wealth alone shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it’s especially frustrating when dealing with an individual as volatile as Trump.
O’Leary’s behaviour isn’t just selfish, it’s undemocratic. The Canadian people have not asked for him to represent them on the global stage. In fact, it’s safe to say that they don’t want him to, something they made explicit when he ran in the Conservative leadership race in 2017.
Should Canadians not be concerned that we’ve got a failed politician talking to Trump about how he can further line his own pockets at the expense of our country and the rights that we enjoy? It’s no secret that money talks, and if Trump’s recent relationship with Elon Musk is any indication, the president-elect will be more interested in speaking to the rich O’Leary than listening to the desires of the general population.
In fact, O’Leary’s self-insertion into this situation is not unlike Musk’s recent inclusion in the U.S. government. Like Musk, O’Leary is an unelected citizen that is being promoted to take part in major governmental decision-making conversations not because of his intellect or political history, but because he’s got enough funding for Trump to raise an eyebrow.
This recent trend in the mega-wealthy inserting themselves into political conversations sets a dangerous precedent for the future of politics and should be concerning to everyone who isn’t a government-elected official or doesn’t have vast amounts of money to their name — in other words, the vast majority of regular citizens.
O’Leary’s evident disregard for the people of his homeland, and his lies about what they are hoping to gain from this conversation, should be viewed as traitorous to his country. Despite his egocentric intent, it’s fine for him to have his own views on this situation, but to attempt to speak on behalf of his country when his ideas are clearly misaligned from theirs goes beyond selfishness — it’s downright betrayal.
So, on behalf of the 87 per cent of Canadians who aren’t interested in Trump’s little “joke” — it’s time for O’Leary to simply butt out. If the Canadian population wasn’t interested in his representation eight years ago, they certainly won’t be interested in it now.
Kevin O’Leary, it’s time to drop the political charade and get back on television. This deal gets a no from us.