Yahoo Finance Kevin O’Leary’s most outrageous quotes about the economy
Kevin O’Leary has never been one to shy away from the spotlight.
In particular, the reality TV star and business mogul hasn’t pulled any punches when talking about the Canadian economy.
With that in mind, here are some prominent quotes from O’Leary, who officially announced his entry into the Conservative Party’s leadership race on Wednesday, about a variety of fiscal issues.
NAFTA and Trudeau
O’Leary has expressed his doubts about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ability to handle potential NAFTA negotiations with incoming U.S. president Donald Trump.
“My imagery of that, Donald Trump versus Trudeau, is Godzilla versus Bambi. It’s going to be ugly,” he said.
The former “Dragon’s Den” star has also been outspoken in his criticism for the federal government’s plan that would require all provinces and territories to have some form of carbon pricing by 2018.
“We’re going into competition in oil and gas with the United States and they have no carbon tax,” he said, suggesting that Trump will withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord.
“We’re screwed. We have to immediately pivot,” he said.
Bill Morneau
O’Leary said he plans to challenge Finance Minister Bill Morneau on the Liberal government’s fiscal policies if he wins the Conservative leadership race:
“I said, ‘Listen Bill, I don’t like deficit spending. I’m going to be your worst nightmare. I’m going to tear that budget to pieces,'” he said.
Rachel Notley
One of the biggest targets of O’Leary’s criticism has been Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and the state of the province’s economy under her leadership.
“The world has figured out in the past nine months that Rachel Notley has no idea what she is doing,” he said last January.
“Her government is killing that province. She is totally clueless and she is killing this country. I think Canadians should get on their knees and beg her to take a holiday.”
O’Leary also offered to invest $1 million in Canadian energy companies if Notley stepped down.
“She has got to go,” said O’Leary.
“Let me be the first to make that offer.”
The wealth gap
O’Leary was also criticized for his view on the global wealth gap in 2014, after praising a report that found that the wealth of the world’s richest 85 people is equal to that of the 3.5 billion poorest.
“This is fantastic news,” said O’Leary.
“Of course, I applaud it. What could be wrong with this?”
“It inspires everybody to get some motivation to look up to the 1 per cent and say I want to become one of those people, I’m going to fight hard to get up to the top,” he said.
