OTTAWA–Kevin O’Leary opined on Canadian politics Sunday, but unlike the 13 other Conservative leadership rivals, he did so from Miami.

The reality television personality and businessman appeared on MSNBC on Sunday morning to talk about President Donald Trump’s performance and his own bid to replace Stephen Harper.

O’Leary made the apparently abrupt decision to jet off to Miami to celebrate his 27th wedding anniversary with wife Linda O’Leary, iPolitics first reported on Sunday. O’Leary’s campaign confirmed the trip Monday, and said that he was expected to fly into Ottawa on Monday evening.

A campaign official said that O’Leary had missed a “series of family events” recently and was making up for "lost time" with the anniversary trip.

When asked why O’Leary appeared on American television during his anniversary weekend, spokesperson Ari Laskin said that O’Leary was under contractual obligation.

“He took less than 15 minutes out of his day for an interview. He spent the rest of his day celebrating with his wife,” Laskin wrote in an email to the Star.

A mere 2,000 kms north of downtown Miami the other Conservative leadership hopefuls attended a debate moderated by former finance minister Joe Oliver.

Laskin said the O’Leary campaign alerted debate organizers of the candidates intended absence too late in the process, and that O’Leary has personally apologized to Oliver.

O’Leary missing Conservative leadership debates is nothing new — he has skipped all but a handful of such events, hosted by the party and by grassroots organizations, since officially joining the race.

Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O?Leary faces a $10,000 fine for skipping a February 28 debate in Edmonton. O?Leary says he was unhappy with the format and is asking for his money back if his suggested format is used at the next debate.

But it does buck a recent trend of O’Leary seeming to treat traditional campaigning more seriously.

According to social media posts, event listings and the campaign itself, O’Leary has held around 30 events over the past month. He’s toured three out of four Atlantic provinces, held numerous events in Ontario, has done a mini-tour of Saskatchewan and stopped off in Calgary.

He even made a couple of targeted stops in Quebec, despite his lack of French.

The campaign’s newfound vigour comes as some longtime Conservatives are raising concerns about an O’Leary-led party.

Jenni Byrne, who spent years in the top circle of Conservative power as an advisor to Stephen Harper, told CTV Sunday that O’Leary poses a threat to party unity.

“It will be a challenge for anyone coming in, in terms of keeping that (Conservative) coalition together,” Byrne, who chaired the Conservatives 2015 election campaign, told CTV Question Period.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“And I think that for the reasons we’ve said, I think Kevin O’Leary is the candidate that probably least understands that.”

It’s difficult to say with any certainty how the Conservative leadership race is shaping up – the party’s system for electing leaders, weighted by riding, makes it hard to predict how national support will translate into grassroots votes. The party also uses ranked ballots, adding another level of difficulty to armchair speculation.

But if numbers released by the O’Leary campaign are accurate, he is clearly in the top tier of aspirants to the leadership. The campaign reported signing up 35,336 new members and raising more than $900,000 since O’Leary officially joined the race in January.

Read more about: