Brian Mulroney and three other former prime ministers spent Monday at CTV studios sizing up the dreams of some ambitious young people who are fighting for the chance to follow in their footsteps. Sort of.

Mulroney, along with Joe Clark, John Turner and Kim Campbell, took part in the live taping of Canada's Next Great Prime Minister, a CTV original show that will air Saturday Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. on CTV.

"I think we're going to try and find out if any of them have the spark and the ambition and the discipline, the focus necessary to take you to the position," Mulroney said in an interview aired Tuesday on Canada AM.

"It's not easy for any of us or anyone who's held the job, even to get there… Anybody who tells you this is an easy country to be prime minister of is misleading you to the extreme."

The show will bring five finalists together to demonstrate through a number of challenges why they should be chosen to lead the country. The former PMs will make the final decision on who will be the Next Great Prime Minister.

The field has been narrowed down to five, with competitors hailing from Quebec, Saskatchewan, Ontario and B.C. Entrants submitted video-taped speeches describing why they should be the nation's next great prime minister.

One of the finalists is 24-year-old Omeasoo Butt, of Regina, Saskatchewan.

"I just saw the clipping for the contest in the newspaper, and I thought 'next great prime minister, you never know!' said Butt. "And I just thought it was a really fun opportunity to present my ideas in a not very political climate. I mean this is all for fun, it's all about being a student, expressing your ideas."

But it will take more than enthusiasm to win the prize.

"This is a very complicated country," said Joe Clark. "You have to understand it, you have to respect it, and I think our most successful prime ministers have been people who have drawn together the diversity of the country."

Kim Campbell said her top choice will have to be very convincing.

"Great leaders are people who have a vision and can persuade people to sign on to it," she said.

The show is based on a nationwide competition originated in 1995 by Frank Stronach, owner of Magna Corporation. The contest required entrants to write essays describing why they should be chosen as Canada's next great prime minister.

This is the first time the contest has culminated in a television show, however. The winner will walk away with $50,000, a six-month internship, and the endorsement of the former prime ministers.

The remaining finalists will receive $10,000 and a three-month internship.

The goal of the event is to spark more political interest in younger Canadians. When questioned on Canada AM, each of the panelists had their own ideas on how to engage youth.

Turner said the difficulty of living a public life has turned many away from political candidacy and blamed the media for too much focus on politicians' personal lives.

"Young couples aren't willing to make the financial sacrifices that political involvement demands," he told Canada AM. "And people don't like their own private lives exposed by the media."

Campbell and Clark said young people would be more interested if they felt a connection with their politicians and saw evidence they could make a difference within the system.

"We need to constantly renew leadership because you've got to speak the language of the younger generation," said Campbell.

"It's a very cynical time now," added Clark. "We all came into public life when one assumed the institutions worked, and one, by and large, assumed the institutions worked for you, whoever you were.

"I think it's almost the opposite assumption now. We can't expect a generation that finds them unsatisfactory to simply accept the way things used to be, and yet the adaptation to make those institutions speak to a new generation is very, very tricky."

Seamus O'Regan, one of the hosts of CTV's Canada AM, will host the show.