Tories’ $50,000 race fee blasted

A hefty, non-refundable $50,000 entrance fee for Progressive Conservative leadership candidates could prevent contenders with fresh ideas from entering the race, an Edmonton political observer says.

“This campaign is going to be a campaign that will benefit the established names who have done this before, have the connections and know the organizational requirements to be a winner,” MacEwan University political scientist Chaldeans Mensah said Tuesday. “It’s going to be a tougher task for the new entrants ... and perhaps those entrants are what the party needs.”

The fee for leadership candidates has essentially doubled since the 2011 race, when it was set at $40,000 — of which $15,000 was refundable. During the 2006 race, the fee was set at $15,000.

“It would seem to me that this is designed to weed out fringe candidates that are simply not going to be able to garner the support of a broad range of party donors and members across the province,” Mensah said.

Tories will cast their first ballots on Sept. 6, while a run-off vote — if necessary — between the top two contenders will come Sept. 20.

The party’s board of directors set out the race rules during a three-hour closeddoor meeting Monday night in Red Deer.

Political strategist Stephen Carter, who worked on Alison Redford’s successful leadership bid in 2011, put the steep fee in more blunt terms:

“It betrays that the party needs the money,” Carter said. “They have no money to run a leadership (race).”

Carter stayed on as Redford’s chief of staff following her leadership win, but was let go following the 2012 election. His departure from the premier’s office became mired in controversy over the $130,000 severance paid to him after holding the position for six months.

He said he hasn’t been contacted to work on any leadership campaigns, but said he has been “pretty clear the PC party is, in my mind, dead.

“The party wants to go back to the good old days of Ralph Klein, without recognizing that those days weren’t that good.”

The most recent financial statements show the PCs were close to $800,000 in debt after the 2011 leadership race and a provincial election in 2012. The party received $2.3 million in donations in 2012. The Wildrose, by comparison, finished the last election with $403,000 and received $2.2 million in donations in 2012.

With the first vote set for September, candidates will have to compete with summer festivals and vacations to get the attention of potential voters. Candidates will also be pushing to sell memberships, as any party member over 14 years old can vote.

“One member, one vote? Trying to sell memberships in the summer? I was there, it was not easy,” Carter said.

Mensah agreed, noting: “Typically, in the summer, people don’t pay too much attention to political issues.”

That, too, will help the more established candidates, Mensah added.

“I think it’s conceivable that a well-organized candidate can actually steal this vote on the first ballot,” he said.

One potential leadership hopeful, Conservative Sen. Scott Tannas from Alberta, said he’s been “listening” to pitches from people associated with the Alberta PCs who want him to enter the race.

Tannas said he didn’t want to delay a final decision, suggesting one would come in a few weeks.

Redford officially resigned Sunday after weeks of caucus infighting amid mounting scandals.

Tannas’ name is one of several that have been raised as possible successors, including former Conservative cabinet minister Jim Prentice and Conservative MP James Rajotte, who told the National Post on Tuesday that he hadn’t ruled out a run.