Conservative leadership elections opened on Monday, with rules set

Written By MIKE BAKER

The Conservative Party of Canada officially opened its 2020 Leadership election on Monday (January 13), giving candidates until the end of February to apply. 

With the opening of the race, the Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) has also set the rules governing the election, including candidate requirements and fees.

“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 Dan Nowlan, Co-Chair of LEOC. “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 financial requirement to become a Verified Candidate in the 2020 Conservative Leadership election will be a total non-refundable registration fee of $200,000. Additionally, Verified Candidates will be required to obtain 3,000 signatures of endorsement in total from party members.

The financial and member endorsement obligations will be structured as follows:

A person entering the race will submit a $25,000 instalment of the total registration fee, as well as a first instalment of 1,000 signatures of endorsement. These signatures must be from members residing in at least 30 different electoral districts across at least seven provinces and/or territories. Once accepted, this person becomes an Approved Applicant.

For an Approved Applicant to receive the list of Conservative Party members and the Leadership election voters list, they will submit a further $25,000 instalment of the registration fee, plus submit a full compliance deposit of $100,000, and a further instalment of 1,000 signatures of endorsement. At this point, they become an Authorized Contestant.

Approved Applicants and Authorized Contestants will have until March 25 at 5PM ET to submit the full remaining registration fee, and the full remaining signatures of endorsement to become a Verified Candidate. Only Verified Candidates will have their name on the Leadership ballot.

To vote in the 2020 Conservative Leadership election, Canadians must be a member of the Conservative Party by April 17, 2020. The winner of the Conservative Leadership election will be announced in Toronto on June 27.