Tories tighten leadership race rules

Aim is to reduce number of contenders

OTTAWA • The race to replace Andrew Scheer as the next Conservative leader officially kicks off Monday, and the contenders will have to come up with $300,000 to get their name on the final ballot.

Entry requirements and other rules were announced over the weekend and, as expected, the party is raising the threshold from 2017 to try to keep the field smaller than the 13 candidates who were on that race’s final ballot.

The requirements this time around also gradually kick in, which means candidates may drop out if they haven’t built enough support — a key difference from the 2017 race, where there was no incentive to drop out once a candidate had entered.

In total, candidates will need to raise $300,000 to stay in the contest, with $100,000 of that a refundable deposit for following the rules correctly. (The 2017 race had a $100,000 entry fee, of which half was refundable.) Candidates will also need 3,000 endorsements from party members spread across at least 30 ridings and seven provinces.

The spending cap, meanwhile, remains unchanged at $5 million per candidate. Many of the other voting rules, such as using a ranked ballot, are set by the party’s constitution and are thus unchanged from the last race. Candidates will be elected on a one-member, one-vote system weighted by riding. The final tally takes place June 27 in Toronto.

“With this announcement, the Conservative Party’s leadership race is officially ready to open, and it’s a process designed to test the organizational abilities of our next leader,” said a statement from Dan Nowlan, co-chair of the leadership organizing committee. “It’s not only your ability to fundraise, but more importantly your ability to inspire Canadians to join our party, and to do so under tight timelines similar to the pressures of an election.”

The race formally begins on Monday. The deadline to enter is Feb. 27, by when candidates must submit a $25,000 fee instalment and the first 1,000 party member signatures.

To get access to the party’s full membership list — a crucial document for organizing a leadership bid — and to be eligible for official debates, the candidates must submit another $25,000 instalment, the full $100,000 deposit, and a further 1,000 signatures.

The final deadline comes March 25, when candidates must send in the final $150,000 of the entry fee and another 1,000 signatures.

The leadership committee may organize official debates, but they have not yet announced any. Other organizations may hold their own unofficial debates