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New Progressive Conservative Leader Jason Kenney condemned federal leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary’s attacks on Premier Rachel Notley on Tuesday, and said his stance on federalism makes little sense.

And Kenney — the former MP elected PC leader just over a week ago — said O’Leary should be ruled out as the new Conservative leader because of his lack of French.

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In a meeting with the Postmedia editorial board in Calgary, Kenney said the next leader of the federal Conservatives must be bilingual in Canada’s official languages, and O’Leary doesn’t qualify.

“I think he speaks American English, if that counts, but I don’t think he speaks French,” Kenney said of O’Leary, who retains his residence in the United States even as he campaigns for Conservative leader.

O’Leary, a bombastic businessman and reality television personality, is viewed as one of the front-runners in the race to succeed Stephen Harper as the permanent leader of the Conservative party.