Conservative leadership hopeful Kevin O鈥橪eary wants every Conservative party membership to be scrutinized.

鈥淚 want every single member vetted and audited,鈥� the political firebrand told CTV Power Play on Tuesday from Saint John, NB. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the only way you can know with certainty, regardless of which man or woman leads the leadership contest, how they can start their mandate without the taint of fraud.鈥�

O鈥橪eary鈥檚 comments come after the Conservative Party flagged and discarded 1,351 memberships on Friday. Those memberships, the party said, were anonymously purchased through two IP addresses -- identifier numbers specific to internet-connected computers or devices. Many of those memberships, the party added, were purchased with prepaid credit cards. The party has not identified the owners of the two IP addresses.

Speaking to Power Play from an Atlantic Canada tour, O鈥橪eary declined to point fingers in the scandal.

鈥淲hoever is doing it, I don鈥檛 know,鈥� O鈥橪eary said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not making any accusations.鈥�

The sole way to confer legitimacy to the leadership race, O鈥橪eary added, is for the party to review all memberships.

鈥淭he only way to do it is to vet and audit every single name on that list,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not that many names: we鈥檙e dealing with maybe 150,000. The party鈥檚 got to use software to do it. I am assured they will, but the world will be watching, Canadians will be watching, the candidates will be watching.鈥�

O鈥橪eary also declined to comment on what he thinks an appropriate punishment would be from the party if it鈥檚 revealed that one of his rivals is responsible for the fraudulent memberships.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 their decision,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ll I know is I paid $10,000 (in) penalty fees when I don鈥檛 show up for a debate鈥� I wonder what the fee is if you鈥檝e done fraud?鈥�

鈥淚 only have one request, and I believe it is consistent with all candidates,鈥� O鈥橪eary added. 鈥淒o not mail a ballot to a fraudulent name. That doesn鈥檛 help anybody... It is a big mistake to allow even one instance of fraud into this process.鈥�

In the interview, O鈥橪eary also criticized Canada鈥檚 current equalization payment system.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 expect me to send you money and be the child that won鈥檛 get out of bed and do some work,鈥� he said.

He also offered his thoughts on the Liberals鈥� upcoming budget.

鈥淭hey鈥檒l make this county so uncompetitive,鈥� he said. 鈥淟ook, (federal finance minister Bill) Morneau鈥檚 got the wrong name. He should be called 鈥楳or-yes.鈥� He can鈥檛 say 鈥榥o鈥� to Trudeau or (senior Trudeau adviser Gerald) Butts. This thing is a mess.鈥�