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OTTAWA — Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary says if he becomes prime minister he will do everything in his power to “coerce” provinces into adopting his preferred economic policies.

In an interview Monday, O’Leary said he wants a “new form of federalism” and a “new tonality for government” that would prioritize federal targets, including tying equalization payments to specific priorities — ideas that seem to go against the grain of the party’s longstanding tenets, according to policy documents.

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He also compared his idea to use the notwithstanding clause for border security to the War Measures Act invoked during the October Crisis.

O’Leary’s main campaign promise is to bring Canada to three-per-cent economic growth. “You can’t do that just federally. You have to have the co-operation of the provinces, obviously,” he said, then accusing some provincial leaders of mismanagement.