"Fire Kevin O’Leary" Campaign crashes O’Leary book signing in Guelph

This Tuesday, supporters of Rebel Youth’s “Fire Kevin O’Leary” Campaign picketed Mr. O’Leary’s book signing at Chapters in Guelph’s Stone Rd Mall.

The Guelph Young Communist League and supporters of the campaign flyered mall customers and displayed large signs in support of Firing Kevin O’Leary from the CBC.

Although Chapters management and mall security were less than pleased to see them, there was warm response from many members of the public.  Even outside a Kevin O’Leary book signing it seemed that there was more support for the campaign than for Mr. O’Leary’s pro-big business bigotry.

O'Leary's comments on inequality cross the line

Commentary by Rebel Youth magazine

Rebel Youth magazine is renewing its call to fire CBC economic commentator Kevin O'Leary after comments made Tuesday about growing global social inequality.

Responding to co-host Amanda Lang's summary of a new report by Oxfam which notes that the 85 richest people on the planet have as much wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion people, O'Leary said:

It’s fantastic. And this is a great thing because it inspires everybody, gets them motivation to look up to the one per cent and say, ‘I want to become one of those people, I want to fight to the get up to the top.’ This is fantastic news and of course I applaude it. What could be wrong with this?

Oxfam is an international anti-poverty NGO. Its new report ''Working for the few,'' confirmed that almost half of the world’s wealth is now owned by just one percent of the population. (You can read our 60 second summary here, with links to the full download).

O'Leary: let Rachel on your shows, talk truth about GMOs!

A young activist has bravely called-out Kevin O'Leary for labelling people who oppose Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs "stupid" and saying on the May 27th edition of the Lang-O'Leary Exchange "I have an answer to these people: stop eating. Then we can get rid of them."

Fire Kevin O'Leary campaign hits News Talk 1010

Click above for a video of Rebel Youth spokesperson Drew Garvie calling out Kevin O'Leary and his agenda of 'Greed is good' from the CBC.

Fire Kevin O'Leary campaign hits TV

By J. Boyden 

Rebel Youth magazine's campaign called Fire Kevin O'Leary got a boost today from an surprising source. As the campaign approached 800 signatures on Friday night, the right-wing TV channel Sun News picked up the story as segment on its programme Byline. You can watch the show in the You Tube above.

With the major snowstorm hitting Toronto, I wound-up being the spokesperson for the campaign. Still, facing blizzard conditions a half-hour bus ride to Sun TV Montreal took closer to an hour. Things weren't made easier by the fact that, as far as I could tell, Sun News Montreal studio doesn't really exist -- apart from a TV camera and a fancy backdrop in an unmarked and tiny closet-sized like studio, all on the tenth floor of a major private broadcaster's building, TVA.

The trip to the media outlet may have been full of delays, but the interview went by fast.

Byline is a show that, in traditional Sun TV style, mixes far-right commentary with a few distorted facts that could be called stories -- or so its online detractors basically say. My conclusions and judgement were just based on what came first on the show.

I saw an 'exposure' of the Ontario SPCA for being 'infiltrated' by groups like PETA and not respecting animal-owners rights to privacy. I hear an amazing discussion about the CETA or the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (called by some 'NAFTA on crack') and why it doesn't go far enough (Canada should just 'unilaterally' move to Free Trade, regardless of cultural content or jobs).

And then there was a discussion of the New York Times (NYT) vs. the New York Post where the host and guest talked about 'Media snobs', how the NYT 'hates Jewish people', the NYT is pretentious because it prints on large paper, women like the NYT -- and then the interview lifted-off with a sexist and homophobic rant that ended with a defense of the Sun Newspapers 'Page Three Girls' (now no longer on page three).

Here is a quote from the guest:

"I read the times because my wife is a women and they love that newspaper... They [presumably NYT readers, Media snobs in general or perhaps all women] live in a hoity-toity, elbow-patch, blazer-wearing world where women are not attractive. Why not have a man there? I don't know, have you ever seen males nude? Their not attractive, okay? Women are called the fairest sex for a reason, but they live in denial of that. They are just so determined to go against 40 thousand years of evolution that they make fools of themselves and all they care about is diversity mongering, and multiculturalism involving people they don't know, they don't live with, and they don't send their kids to school with!"

We will post that clip another time with some commentary -- your thoughts are welcome.

Seriously, however, if O'Leary's friends continue in charge of the CBC maybe this is what the public broadcaster will become?

Of course, the interview segment rushed by and it is too bad I wasn't able to hammer more of the basic points of the campaign -- especially better development on why "fighting unions with evil" is a type of hate-speak and provocation, inciting violence against working people for just organizing and demanding their rights.

Is "evil" a good way to describe the Postal workers being legislated back-to-work, the Caterpillar lock-out where the boss demanded a 55% wage cut, or Ontario's Bill 115 against teachers and students?

And consider the fact that, in Columbia for example, about 200 trade unionists are killed every single year. The exact time O'Leary was making his "unions are pure evil and must be fought with evil remarks," Canada was signing a free trade agreement with Columbia.

The full video is above, courtesy of YCLtube, or link directly to full screen here. As the campaign grows we will keep posting updates! To everyone who has signed, thank you for your support and excellent comments!

Fire Kevin Campaign hits 500+ signatures in five days

The cold hard truth, Mr. O'Leary, is
that is people's needs come before
corporate greed!

Rebel Youth magazine is very happy to announce that in five days our petition to the CBC "Fire Kevin O'Leary" has achieved over 500 signatures from like-minded people across the country.

Although a modest success by some measures in the world of social media, for a small and basically volunteer-driven publication like ours, it is a big achievement. It suggests there is probably a strong current of public opinion critical of Mr. O'Leary and what he represents.

You can sign the petition here.

Together with the signatures, people have been sharing their perspective on why Kevin should be shown the door. For us, these comments are more rewarding than the volume of signatures.

"I love CBC and listen to and watch many programs, both on the radio and on TV. However, I am very disappointed that CBC keeps Mr OLeary on their airwaves. He is arrogant, rude and belligerent. I refuse to watch any show that includes him," says one commentator.

Another person added: "This guy is so offensive and so ignorant, it disturbs me greatly that CBC is featuring him in not one but two programs. I have stopped watching CBC television because of him. He is a national embarrassment and I expect better from my public broadcaster."

These sentiments are not uncommon.


You can read more at the petition site, but we've gone through the hundreds of comments and positive feedback we have received so far and chosen one or two quotes from each part of the country.

I am proud union member who is the voice for the people who cant stand up for themselves. I wouldnt be able to stand up for people without my union because if I go against the employer as an advocate I would be fired. Unions bring working people both union and non union workers up to a decent wage. Mr OLeary need to be fired for his attack on working people and unions
Terry Archibald  VANDERHOOF, BC

Great campaign to WAKE US UP. O'Leary is not "cute" or irrelevant.
Douglas Meggison EDMONTON, ALBERTA

Kevin O'Leary does not speak for the Canadian majority. He speaks for the 1% and continues to endorse the slash and burn mentality that profit over anything including human rights. He should have no place on my television.

Diane Taylor  SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN

Chief spokesperson for the vicious agenda of "money‑over‑everything" and "greed is good. THE KEYWORD is GREED.
Kerry Williams  WINNIPEG, MANITOBA

Working people have had their standard of living attacked and lowered over the last thirty years and Unions have been a part of that anti-worker mentality. The purpose of this? Reduce labour costs and increase profits for a few obscenely wealthy individuals and corporations. I especially resent even one cent of my tax money contributing towards paying Kevin O'Leary at CBC--a publicly funded media outlet. Get rid of him NOW! It's time to take out the trash.

Wanda Brown TORONTO, ONTARIO

Because we need less ignorance about socialism.
Ed Belk KINGSTON, ONTARIO

I had a draft to send to CBC. Your petition comes at the right time. I also hate the way he treats women on the panel and guests.
Louise Jarret MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC

"Flambe the rich" was a button I use to wear when younger but Mr O'Leary with his rude comments etc. want me to look for it and wear it once again in his presence. This rude and ignorant union-hating bastard MUST be silenced NOW. Thank you.
Al Arsenault  SAINT JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK

Hi is an idiot and disrespectful to everyone!!!
Doug Gaetz  LAKE LOOK, NOVA SCOTIA

His anti-union spiel shows a complete lack of information. he is a hate monger of groups who have strived to make the working class more comfortable and safe.
John O'Rourke  ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND

Sign the petition today! Click here.

Rebel Youth launches petition against Kevin O'Leary

Rebel Youth magazine has launched a campaign as our next issue goes to print. Each issue we publish features someone we think stands out as self-appointed spokesperson for the 1%, the big guys or perhaps most accurately, the ruling class. With a smile, we call it the class enemy of the month. In association with this story, we are running a campaign at change.org to Fire Kevin from the CBC. The petition statement is below. We encourage people to check it out and online. We will be posting more updates over the next weeks.

Sign the petition here.

Kevin O'Leary is a multi‑millionaire and owner of the asset management company O'Leary Funds. He has appeared with Amanda Lang on CBC's The Lang and O'Leary Exchange since 2009, and stars on the shows Dragons Den and its US counterpart, Shark Tank on ABC.

"Fire Kevin O'Leary" is urging the CBC to dismiss this notorious venture capitalist "dragon." Mr. O'Leary is abusing his position at the CBC to explicitly promote his own for‑profit businesses. He is hijacking the public broadcaster with a socially destructive message of corporate greed, privatization, selfishness, and austerity.

These shows are really about catering to the Harper Tory government and its "slash-and-burn economic action plan". It is ironic that the CBC seems to have become a bastion of right‑wing commentators like Rex Murphy and Don Cherry. In this group, Mr. O'Leary stands out as a chief spokesperson for the vicious agenda of "money‑over‑everything" and "greed is good," which is being used as an ideological battering ram against young workers and all people in Canada.

Thus he is the face of the poverty‑creators, the job‑destroyers, the union‑busters ‑ basically, of the austerity agenda.

Researching for the campaign, Rebel Youth magazine found a series of cases where Mr. O'Leary called unions a "parasite" on business.

"Elect me as Prime Minister for 15 minutes," Mr. O'Leary said on a show. "I will make unions illegal. Anybody who remains a union member will be thrown in jail." He adds that "Unions are sheer evil [...] Unions themselves are born out of evil. They must be destroyed with evil", and "no one could contain unions in hell. They were so evil they came out of hell and they came upon earth."

These remarks, which could have come out of the mouth of a fascist dictator, prompted several complaints. The National Union of Public and Government Employees wrote that "Trade unionists are beaten and murdered in many countries around the world, simply because they believe in workers acting collectively to improve workplace conditions such as pay, hours of work, health and safety, and job security. [...] Mr. O'Leary's wilful promotion of contempt and hatred towards unions reflects a viewpoint that has often ended in violence perpetrated against union members and leaders."

The CBC Ombudsperson, however, refused to intervene.

Its time to restore and increase funding to the CBC so they don't have to cater to the O'Learys of the world to win adverstizing revenue.  Sign our petiton today and send CBC, Mr. O'Leary and his supporters a clear message: its time for Kevin to move on and get a new job.