Conservative leadership hopeful Kevin OâLeary wants every Conservative party membership to be scrutinized.
âI want every single member vetted and audited,â the political firebrand told CTV Power Play on Tuesday from Saint John, NB. âThatâs the only way you can know with certainty, regardless of which man or woman leads the leadership contest, how they can start their mandate without the taint of fraud.â
OâLearyâs comments come after the Conservative Party flagged and discarded 1,351 memberships on Friday. Those memberships, the party said, were anonymously purchased through two IP addresses -- identifier numbers specific to internet-connected computers or devices. Many of those memberships, the party added, were purchased with prepaid credit cards. The party has not identified the owners of the two IP addresses.
Speaking to Power Play from an Atlantic Canada tour, OâLeary declined to point fingers in the scandal.
âWhoever is doing it, I donât know,â OâLeary said. âIâm not making any accusations.â
The sole way to confer legitimacy to the leadership race, OâLeary added, is for the party to review all memberships.
âThe only way to do it is to vet and audit every single name on that list,â he said. âAnd itâs not that many names: weâre dealing with maybe 150,000. The partyâs got to use software to do it. I am assured they will, but the world will be watching, Canadians will be watching, the candidates will be watching.â
OâLeary also declined to comment on what he thinks an appropriate punishment would be from the party if itâs revealed that one of his rivals is responsible for the fraudulent memberships.
âThatâs their decision,â he said. âAll I know is I paid $10,000 (in) penalty fees when I donât show up for a debate⌠I wonder what the fee is if youâve done fraud?â
âI only have one request, and I believe it is consistent with all candidates,â OâLeary added. âDo not mail a ballot to a fraudulent name. That doesnât help anybody... It is a big mistake to allow even one instance of fraud into this process.â
In the interview, OâLeary also criticized Canadaâs current equalization payment system.
âYou canât expect me to send you money and be the child that wonât get out of bed and do some work,â he said.
He also offered his thoughts on the Liberalsâ upcoming budget.
âTheyâll make this county so uncompetitive,â he said. âLook, (federal finance minister Bill) Morneauâs got the wrong name. He should be called âMor-yes.â He canât say ânoâ to Trudeau or (senior Trudeau adviser Gerald) Butts. This thing is a mess.â