High Entrance Fee May Deter Grit Aspirants In May Leadership Race
Posted November 9, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Candidates will pay almost double the 2006 fee to enter the Liberal leadership race which will culminate May 2 in Vancouver.
The Liberal national executive decided over the weekend to turn a previously scheduled policy meeting, booked for April 30-May 3, into a convention to choose a successor to Stephane Dion. The new leader will be chosen on May 2.
The high entrance fee — $90,000 compared to $50,000 in 2006 — could deter some dark horse candidates from entering the fray.
Each candidate will be able to spend only $1.5 million — less than half the $3.4-million spending limit imposed for the 11-month race in 2006.
As well, candidates will have to give 10 per cent of all money they raise to the cash-strapped party.
Potential contender Gerard Kennedy said the entry fee and spending limit are “kind of high” and may discourage those without deep pockets from entering the race.
He said the rules appear to reflect a desire among some Liberals to “streamline” the leadership race and get it over with “lickety-split.”
“It will give an advantage to those who have a lot of heavy-duty financial supporters as opposed to people who run a more grassroots campaign,” he said in an interview.
Kennedy, who still owes just under $200,000 from the 2006 leadership contest, said the spending limit and entry fee by themselves won’t preclude him from jumping into the fray this time. He expects to announce his decision next week.
Still, Kennedy added: “It would have been more of a level playing field had it been lower.”
The executive did at least rule out a proposal from the Quebec wing of the party that would have prohibited Kennedy and others with outstanding debt from 2006 from running again this time.
Kennedy was also pleased with the choice of Vancouver.
The executive had been under considerable pressure from some factions in the party to move the convention to a location in Central Canada, something that rival camps complained would have benefited perceived front-runner Michael Ignatieff.
Insiders have said the only other plausible venue for the convention was Toronto, but that would have required moving up the date of the gathering to mid-April. Under party rules, that would have meant cutting off membership sales as early as December, leaving little time for dark horse contenders to recruit supporters.
With the convention staying in Vancouver, candidates will have until Feb. 6 to recruit members who will be eligible to take part in the leadership process.
All eligible members will then vote in their ridings March 6-10 for their favourite leadership contenders. Each riding is eligible to send 22 delegates — representing the various candidates in proportion to their share of the popular vote — to the convention.
Almost 9,000 delegates are expected to converge on Vancouver. With observers and media, attendance at the convention will top 10,000.
Party president Doug Ferguson said he was “thrilled” that national executive members showed no favouritism towards any prospective leadership contenders, agreeing on rules that will ensure a “fair, inclusive” contest.
“My colleagues were focused on what’s best for the party, not on what’s best for any individual leadership candidate,” Ferguson told reporters Sunday at the end of the weekend executive meeting.
“There was never any discussion about trying to keep people out. That did not enter it whatsoever.”
Toronto MP Bob Rae and New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc have already declared their intention to seek the party’s top job.
Rae said he’s happy about the timing and location of the convention and “will live with the rest.”
“(I) would have preferred a lower threshold,” he said.
Cyrus Reporter, a spokesman for LeBlanc, said his camp is satisfied. He said the spending limit and entry fee are within “a reasonable range.”
Ignatieff, who is also certain to run, had no immediate comment.
Former cabinet minister Martin Cauchon, who is testing the waters for a leadership bid, said the rules are “pretty reasonable.”
“Nevertheless, knowing that fundraising will be very difficult, the $1.5 (million) is indeed the limit, I would say.”
Others who are seriously thinking about tossing their hats into the ring include Toronto MP Martha Hall Findlay, Montreal MP Denis Coderre, Ottawa MP David McGuinty and Brampton MP Ruby Dhalla.
The contest could feature some of the same faces who ran for the top spot in 2006, although the field of candidates is likely to be considerably smaller than the 11 who ran last time.
In the last race, Dion scored a stunning come-from-behind victory over Ignatieff and Rae after Kennedy and Hall Findlay tossed him their support.
Dion led the party to one of its worst showings in history in the Oct. 14 election. Shortly thereafter, he announced he’ll step aside as soon as a successor is chosen.
