After months of speculation, TV personality Kevin O'Leary has jumped into the race for the leadership of the federal Conservatives.
O'Leary made the announcement on Facebook Wednesday morning.
"I listened to you," he said as he spoke directly into the camera. "Thank you, the 40,000 of you who went to the website and encouraged me to do it."
His announcement comes the morning after the French-language candidates' debate. O'Leary is not bilingual.
Members of the Conservative Party will have a full field of candidates to chose from when they vote for a new leader in May. O'Leary makes 14 candidates in the running for the position currently held by interim party leader Rona Ambrose.
The former cast member of the CBC's "Dragon's Den" has said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau does not stand a chance against incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
"I'm really excited because the potential of this country is absolutely immense. It's just mismanaged," said O'Leary Wednesday morning.
Other candidates running include former Conservative Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander and former Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism Maxime Bernier. Steven Blaney was the minister of public safety and emergency preparedness under the former Harper government. Also expected on the ballot come May are Michael Chong, Pierre Lemieux, Deepak Obhrai, Erin O'Toole, Rick Peterson, Andrew Saxton, Andrew Scheer and Brad Trost.
Two of the most high-profile candidates are Lisa Raitt, a former labour minister who served under the Harper government, and Kellie Leitch who has suggested immigrants should be individually interviewed before they are allowed to move to Canada.
During the last federal election, Leitch also came under fire for proposing a "barbaric practices hotline."
