Kevin O’Leary’s talk at Queen’s filled Grant Hall, even the balconies, with approximately 1000 people. On Tuesday, his opponent Chris Alexander’s brought out only 24 people, competing with a squeaky air conditioner in Room 3 in Macdonald Hall to be heard.

Alexander’s promotion of a more even-keeled Conservative Party has been paralleled to the more aggressive rhetoric of some of his opponents. In his speech, Alexander highlighted his platform points, including an increase in immigration, an opposition to carbon taxing and the need for a French-speaking leader. 

“There are all these people that think they can be Prime Minister because they will learn French,” he said after his discussion. “When I hear them say that to a group of Francophones, my heart sinks.”

Before making his first run at politics as a Conservative, Alexander spent two years as the Ambassador to Afghanistan where he was stationed at the embassy in Kabul. 

“We have an interest in helping in seeing success in every country,” he said, explaining what his time abroad taught him about Canada’s position on the global stage. “The least developed and poorest countries should never be out of our mind.”

Though Alexander pointed out several inconsistencies between his ideas and those of the Trudeau government during his speech, his ideas weren’t radically opposed. 

“I can sign on to a lot of the priorities the Trudeau government has identified, but I think they’ve taken an irresponsible approach to spending and getting results for taxpayer’s money,” he said.

At the end of his speech, with a newly-bestowed Queen’s scarf draped over his shoulders, Alexander added that “I want to see us succeed economically, and then be the broadest most ambitious voice in the world at tackling those issues.” 

He re-iterated the three issues of most paramount importance to him and his campaign —  poverty reduction, indigenous affairs and climate change.

After his address to the small crowd, Alexander sat down in Queen’s Pub (QP) with The Journal to discuss his platform and the current state of Canadian affairs. After only a few seconds seated, one of the QP servers interrupted by coming up to Alexander and introducing himself. 

In response, Alexander greeted the student with a question. “Are you with us?” he asked, to which the server replied that he was a member of the Conservative Party.

Returning to business shortly after, Alexander began to critique his opponents. “I’ll be blunt,” he said. “[Kevin] O’Leary hasn’t put many policies forward. [Maxime] Bernier’s are libertarian. [Kellie Leitch] starts every speech with this sermon about interviews for everyone.” 

Coming into the campaign with experience in various sectors of the Canadian government, including his aforementioned time in the foreign service, Alexander said he believes that experience is what will carry him to Canada’s highest governmental position. 

“On the whole, I think people are going to be more inclined to someone who has experience at the table.”