K-Money has bailed.Not on Canada as a whole—he did that a while ago, but he's back now—no, O'Leary bailed on the bilingual Conservative Party leadership debate taking place in Edmonton tomorrow. I know what you're thinking: Well, Mack, maybe this has something to do with the fact that the Kev-o-nator can't speak French?Well, my fair reader, you would be wrong.The stylin', profilin', limousine ridin', jet flyin', kiss-stealin', wheelin' n' dealin' son of a gun dropped out, short notice, because the debate format is dumb.
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"I said from the beginning that it is bad format to have fourteen people on stage answering the same question with no back and forth," reads a statement from Canada's future king. "It allows no time for ideas to be explained, or any real debate to transpire."He then praised the debate format that happened at the Manning format this past weekend (which, to be fair, was far superior). O'Leary said that he lobbied the party to change the format and that all but one candidate agreed, but to no avail. "I am obviously disappointed," reads the statement.Obviously the O'Lear Jet took some (undeserving) heat on social media over his decision even though it totally had nothing to do with the fact he can't really speak French. Fellow leadership candidate Lisa Raitt called O'Leary a chicken on twitter.
"Format is irrelevant. Presence is mandatory," reads another tweet by Raitt. "Suck it up and play by the rules."Another leadership candidate, Kevin Peterson, said he calls "BS" on O'Leary's excuse and his claim that he tried and change the debate format.This isn't the first time K-Money's lack of French has been questioned. He entered the Conservative leadership race in early 2017, shortly after the French debate and was accused of attempting to avoid that debate because well, you know, he can't speak a lick of the language.This time, there is a good chance the Dragon will be fined upwards of $10,000 by the party for his sudden exit from the Edmonton debate.Nevertheless, O'Leary said that he will be holding a separate event, an "intimate fireside chat," in Edmonton at the same time, saying he looks "forward to speaking directly with Albertans."The event, most likely, will be held in English—but that totally has nothing to do with it, you guys.Nope, nuh-uh, not at all.Follow Mack Lamoureux on Twitter