Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O'Leary will not take part in a planned debate scheduled to take place in Edmonton Tuesday night.
A representative for the O'Leary campaign told CTV News Edmonton that the candidate does not like the format of the bilingual debate and will not be participating.
The news is being greeted with cries of foul from rival candidates who dismiss O'Leary's claim that one among them refused to agree to change the format.
He says he worked with other candidates in hopes they would agree to adopt the same small group format used at this past weekend's Manning Centre conference, but one campaign refused to make the switch.
O'Leary says he believes the party's preferred format of having all 14 candidates on stage answering the same questions allows no time for ideas to be explained.
CTV Power Play host Don Martin says the former Dragon's Den and Shark Tank star may be fined $10,000 for opting out of the debate.
Lisa Raitt, who has been directly attacking O'Leary's candidacy for weeks, is calling him "chicken"; for refusing to show up at the bilingual event.
O'Leary will still travel to Edmonton to meet with party members, where he says he'll be holding an event where he can speak directly with party members.
With files from The Canadian Press
