$30,000 registration fee for NDP leadership candidates?

The NDP's defense will of course be that they only want people to run who are "serious" about being leader of the NDP. Which of course implies that any one who is too outside the "mainstream" of the NDP is not worthy of "serious" consideration for the leadership. Ditto anyone who can't scrounge up $30,000 (read: low and modest income people who are more likely to be too radical for the party insiders.).

Also note that the 16-17 month time-frame for the leadership vote is likely to give ample time for the centrists wing of the party to scrounge up another candidate for the leadership in the likely event that Cullen flakes on them.

I think the fee to enter the Liberal leadership race was $70,000 and the Conservative race was $90,000.  The fees are partially to cover costs of renting venues for debates, promotion, organizing the voting (OMOV), etc.  And there's a longer time period for this one too, making it a more costly undertaking.

Mr. Magoo wrote:

Quote:

read: low and modest income people who are more likely to be too radical for the party insiders.

Uh, isn't the next leader kind of likely to be an MP or former MP who enjoyed an income over TWICE the national average?

I'm not saying $30K is chump change, but it's a lot closer to that if you earn $167K a year.

Setting the entrance fee at $30,000 because you think the likely leadership aspirants will be current and former MPs who can afford it, has a way of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. It will skew who enters the race, and that's not a good thing.

The $30,000 entrance fee will also likely dissuade some MPs from running if they don't think they have enough support to justify spending $30,000 to enter the race.

i think 30,000.00 entry fee is peanuts.

 

Very socially democratic. What exactly seperates the NDP from the LIberals these days?

R.E.Wood wrote:

But grassroots fundraising campaigns can generate a lot of money in support of candidates... just look at Bernie Sanders, who's raised countless millions of dollars with an average donation of just $27. 

If a candidate has the support of individuals, they'll have absolutely no problem with the entry fee. If they don't have (&/or can't get) the support of anyone, then what's the point of them wasting space on the proverbial debate stage?

Once candidates pay the $30,000 an oficially join the leadership contest, they can use the platform afforded them by the contest to gain support and donations.

Prospective candidates without a pre-existing support base* won't have the ability to raise the $30,000.

*By pre existing-support bse I mena the support or lack thereof for a person becoming NDP leader, rather a more general support for them and their ideas.

Well if just 1,111 people kicked in $27 to their favourite candidate, their candidate could get in the race.

I smell a crowdfunding campaign. 

alan smithee wrote:

What exactly seperates the NDP from the LIberals these days?

One thing is the leadership entry fee for the NDP race is less than half what it was for the last Liberal race.  It's $30,000 for this upcoming NDP leadership race, whereas for the last Liberal leadership race it was $75,000 (link)

quizzical wrote:

and i go back to my point of if they don't have enough support to get 30,000.00 worth of donations how can they become PM of Canada as leader of the NDP? or if their credit is so bad they can't get a line of credit until they get supporters money then they won't win any elections either now will they?

Some of us believe, on principle, that nobody should be turned away from running for the leadership due to lack of money.

This is a party bereft of creative ideas.

They should decree: No leadership contest until we have at least 100 [s]contestants[/s] candidates!

That's a cool $3 million for the party [s]coffins[/s] coffers - or else, Tom stays.

mark_alfred wrote:

alan smithee wrote:

What exactly seperates the NDP from the LIberals these days?

One thing is the leadership entry fee for the NDP race is less than half what it was for the last Liberal race.  It's $30,000 for this upcoming NDP leadership race, whereas for the last Liberal leadership race it was $75,000 (link)

Thanks for the link. But I think anyone should be able to run either with no money or at most a sizeable number of signatures in support of said candidate.

It's a lot cheaper than running for President but jacking the fee up 100% is not very socially democratic.

For example,I should be able to run regardless. I don't know about you,but I don't have $30 000 to burn. Who do you think does? Certainly not your garden variety activist.

To run a serious credible campaign for the federal NDP leadership will likely take at least a million dollars. Anyone squawking about the $30,000 entry fee better prepare to raise about 30 times that amount if they plan to be a serious candidate.

Interestingly I have not seen ANY criticism of the entry fee from anyone who wants to run for the leadership - only from the useful half a dozen malcontents most of whom long ago decamped for the Socialist party of Ontario 9does that even still exist?)

Unionist wrote:

Stockholm wrote:

To run a serious credible campaign for the federal NDP leadership will likely take at least a million dollars.

These political donations and expenditures must be publicly reported, I would imagine. Does anyone have a link?

Of course - leadership contests are regulated by elections canada and all donations have to go through the party so that people can get their 75% rebate.

Stockholm wrote:

Unionist wrote:

Stockholm wrote:

 

To run a serious credible campaign for the federal NDP leadership will likely take at least a million dollars.

These political donations and expenditures must be publicly reported, I would imagine. Does anyone have a link?

Of course - leadership contests are regulated by elections canada and all donations have to go through the party so that people can get their 75% rebate.

Leadership campaign donations aren't eligible for rebates. Do you have a link to support  your claim?

Are you sure that's legal? Bernier's campaign site doesn't mention a tax credit. 

Stockholm - and anyone else who knows - when I give money to the NDP (which I do), you can find my name and the amount online. Please let me know whether the same is true for contributions to NDP leadership candidates. I'm trying to make this simple.

let me get this straight Mulcair was gotten rid of because he didn't win. but now some are advocating just any old person should be able to run for leader so the fee should be low?

what a bunch of bs. let's deal in a bit of reality here.

any old person will not be able to win and would most likely drop the NDP to NO seats.

with advocates like this the NDP needs no enemies.

 

unionist, i've sat on Boards where people didn't know how to even run one or lead one. it's always a disaster. and all good intentions come to naught and the community at large lost. same thing would happen here.

why waste money and time and let anyone off the street run? i believe they wouldn't get anywhere which is why i believe it would be a waste of time and resources. they shoulda just left Mulcair in then.

and if Joe or Jane Schmoo with no experience won then the stupidity of the NDP membership wouldn't matter or be up for debate. the party would go down to nothing.

 

 

 

i lean egalitarian and don't agree with the leadership syndrome but the most of the world currently does. the reality is we have to function in it.

i got no time for counterproductive sentiments.

$30,000 seems a bit high, especially since it was only $15,000 the last time and that was only four years ago. 

I have a spare $30 k kicking around.

[url=https://you.leadnow.ca/petitions/open-up-the-ndp-leadership-race-drop-th... Open up the NDP Leadership race, drop the outrageous entry fee.[/url]

Quote:

To: NDP President Marit Stiles, and Federal Council of the New Democratic Party

Please reconsider your decision to set a high financial barrier to enter the NDP leadership race.

To ensure renewal can take place consider making some of the following changes to the entrance fees:

1) Make it a requirement for Candidates to show they have raised $30,000 - but don't take it away from their campaigns. Let them spend it on outreach, volunteers, and communications materials.

2) Lower the initial administrative fee to $5,000

3) Impose a progressive administrative tax on all donations collected so that those candidates who raise lots of money and are able to afford to pay more, give more back.

Why is this important?

Despite being well meaning as a fundraising tool, this high entry fee actually risks preventing donors and assets from entering the process. It makes the party less accessible and will have the inevitable effect of shrinking the pool of candidates.

After such a disappointing 2015 loss the overwhelming majority of NDP supporters are looking for deep party renewal. Nearly every candidate elected at convention promised renewal and a commitment to stronger engagement with communities outside the NDP.

While successful candidates for leadership must raise lots of funds, at their core leadership races should not singularly be about money.

They are about ideas and the hard work of rebuilding a party. Having such a large filing fee will stop outside candidates that could be incredibly helpful in signing up members, having conversations and doing the hard work of engaging the base at the doorstep and in the community.

Let's open up the process and invite a diversity of ideas, and campaign tactics into the debate, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain from opening up the process.