Kevin O害羞草研究所橪eary has a message for Canada害羞草研究所檚 premiers.

The businessman running for leadership of the federal Conservative Party says any province that does not record three per cent economic growth will face 害羞草研究所渁dult supervision害羞草研究所� from a government he leads.

And he says he will use deductions in federal transfer payments to non-compliant provinces to exercise that supervision.

害羞草研究所淢any of the (current provincial premiers) are weak leaders,害羞草研究所� O害羞草研究所橪eary told reporters after addressing 400 Conservative Party members in Kelowna Saturday.

His appearance in the city was part of an ongoing bid to persuade party members to vote for him in the upcoming Conservative Party leadership election.

When asked his opinion of current B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark, who is currently engaged in a provincial election campaign, O害羞草研究所橪eary said he feels she has done 害羞草研究所淥K害羞草研究所� except for what he called 害羞草研究所渙ne big lie.害羞草研究所�

That lie, he said, is that the province害羞草研究所檚 existing carbon tax is revenue neutral. He said he believes the tax has not been revenue neutral since 2013.

Not only is O害羞草研究所橪eary opposed to carbon taxes, he vowed to penalize B.C. financially if he was prime minister to make the province scrap its carbon tax.

害羞草研究所淚 will not tolerate carbon taxes or any punitive taxes against business,害羞草研究所� he said.

The brash businessman, best known for his appearances on the Canadian business reality television show Dragon害羞草研究所檚 Den and the U.S. version, Shark Tank, told his Kelowna audience he is the best known Canadian in the U.S.害羞草研究所攂etter known than current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau害羞草研究所攁nd, as such, it would be much easier for him to negotiate with the United States when it comes to revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement, a deal U.S. President Donald Trump claims has been a disaster for his country.

O害羞草研究所橪eary, who referred to himself as Mr. Wonderful, a sarcastic nickname given to him by some of his Dragon害羞草研究所檚 Den business panel rivals, said it害羞草研究所檚 key for Canada to point out to the U.S. that millions of American jobs rely on NAFTA, Canada is the U.S.害羞草研究所檚 most important and largest trading partner and going after what Trump has described as Canada害羞草研究所檚 unfairly subsidized dairy industry will also hurt the U.S. dairy industry.

Later, when asked by reporters how his approach to doing that would differ from way the current Liberal government is doing that now, O害羞草研究所橪eary dismissed Liberal officials as incompetent. He said he would replace them with competent officials.

He also told reporters he favours having the private sector pay for infrastructure improvements across Canada, not the federal government. And, if private companies are not interested in building infrastructure he said, 害羞草研究所渋t害羞草研究所檚 not worth doing.害羞草研究所�

Repeatedly during his speech, O害羞草研究所橪eary, who has no political experience, zeroed in on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau害羞草研究所檚 lack of business experience as a reason Trudeau is not getting the job done leading the country.

And he vowed the Conservatives will 害羞草研究所渆viscerate害羞草研究所� Trudeau in the next federal election, slated for 2019.

But to do that, he said the Conservatives need to win at least 40 seats in Quebec and need to do what the Liberals did so successfully in the last federal election害羞草研究所攃onvince large numbers of young people to vote for his party.

O害羞草研究所橪eary believes the Conservative leadership election has come down to two front-runners害羞草研究所攈imself and Quebec MP Maxime Bernier害羞草研究所攄espite the presence of 12 others in the race.

害羞草研究所淥ne of us is going to win,害羞草研究所� he predicted, adding if it害羞草研究所檚 Bernier, he will work to support him.

Ballots will be sent out to party members next week and the leadership election is next month.

One of the ways O害羞草研究所橪eary said he is trying to engage people is through social media. He claimed to have four million followers on social media and said he uses the various platforms to speak directly to Canadians, bypassing traditional media.

While dismissing traditional media as irrelevant during his speech, he backtracked when pressed on the issue by reporters saying both social media and traditional media are required to get his message out.

害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檓 happy to work with the media but I won害羞草研究所檛 let you define my message,害羞草研究所� he said.