Yesterday, ITQ posted the new guidelines for potential Conservative candidates, which have become considerably more onerous since the last election.
Yesterday, ITQ posted the new guidelines for potential Conservative candidates, which have become considerably more onerous since the last election.
In what a cynical observer might suggest is an attempt to tighten any potential future legal challenge to the party’s now notorious in-and-out scheme – which it maintains is entirely legitimate under existing election law – Tory hopefuls are now required to agree, in advance, to any “reasonable financial arrangement” with the party to provide “campaign services” before they will even be permitted to run for the nomination. They also aren’t allowed to talk about it before, during or after the fact, since they also have to sign a non-disclosure agreement that covers the entire candidate selection process.
In the subsequent comment thread, a reader asked if we were planning to do the same thing for the other parties, which had already struck ITQ as an excellent idea for a follow-up post.
After all, one of the most commonly-heard Conservative talking points in response to the in-and-out controversy is that other parties do it too – so why not check to see if those other parties also want potential candidates to agree to future financial arrangements with the national party?
Short answer: No, they don’t, as it turns out.
Here’s a summary of what we’ve been able to find out so far:
The Liberal Party makes potential candidates fill out a lengthy personal information form, which includes the usual questions about background – criminal record, bankruptcies, ongoing legal action, employment and education history.
Other requirements:
The New Democratic Party has not put its nomination forms online as yet, but a source within the party told us that there are no provisions for a non-disclosure agreement, or future financial arrangements with the party for campaign services.
Other requirements
In order to run for the Greens, a candidate hopeful has to complete a (much shorter) form that covers much the same ground – although considerably less of it – as the Liberals, as far as criminal charges, bankruptcy, as well as involvement in any “ongoing legal proceeding” – whether or not it might embarrass the party if disclosed during a campaign.
Other requirements
Still to come:
Finally, in response to The Jurist, who pointed out that it would be interesting to see the contracts that the candidates have to sign in order to qualify for the Conservative nomination process: We sent an email to Ryan Sparrow asking him to send along the relevant forms – Schedules B and G, according to the guidelines. His reply: “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you”. (At least he’s sorry. Progress!)
UPDATE: An ITQ reader with federal campaign experience tells us that, once confirmed, Liberal candidates sign a financial agreement with the party that has a similar provision to that of the NDP, as far as donating a portion of any rebate from Elections Canada back to the party.