No time for a summer vacation for Tory leadership hopefuls

OTTAWA — Maxime Bernier is making major policy announcements and ramping up his fundraising in the dead of summer.

Tony Clement launched his campaign in the middle of July and posted pictures of himself on Twitter jamming with TV personality and businessman Kevin O’Leary.

Michael Chong and Kellie Leitch are busy stumping for support across the country on the flapjack and barbecue circuit.

Deepak Obhrai is rounding up a campaign team after surprising fellow Conservative MPs by announcing he’s entering the race.

At a time most Canadians have their thoughts set on some sun and fun, Tory leadership hopefuls are in the unenviable position of trying — and needing — to boost interest in a race that has more than 10 months to go and lacks political heavyweights.

It’s challenging for candidates to get volunteers engaged and other MPs helping their campaigns when they gave up much of last summer for the lead-up and start of the longest federal election campaign in modern Canadian history.

While Conservative MPs and organizers believe the field of candidates will begin to round out in September, it’s politically and financially imperative for those already running to round up volunteers and key organizers, and sell all-important memberships during the lazy days of summer.

Along with trying to energize supporters across the country, leadership wannabes who submit memberships to the party before Oct. 28 will be paid $5 a membership — a financial incentive worth potentially tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

On the flip side, they will have to pay a $5 processing fee for each membership submitted after Feb. 28, 2017. Conservative members will elect a new leader on May 27, 2017.

If candidates are looking for more reasons to get the fundraising and campaign machinery going — even in the summer — they’ve got about 100,000 of them: it costs $100,000 to enter the race, including a $50,000 registration fee and a $50,000 refundable compliance deposit. Also, they can’t get their hands on the party’s official membership lists until the $50,000 registration fee has been paid.

While there’s plenty of incentive for candidates to drum up as much interest as they can, raise money and sell as many memberships in the summer, Conservative MPs quietly acknowledge people just aren’t that engaged.