OTTAWA -
The Quebec wing of the federal Liberal party is proposing leadership rules that would prohibit prominent MPs from joining the race to succeed Stephane Dion.
Quebec officials are recommending that anyone with outstanding debt from the 2006 leadership race be disqualified -- a rule that would hit Gerard Kennedy and Martha Hall Findlay, who each owe just under $200,000 from their unsuccessful bids.
"No candidate is allowed to run in this leadership race if the said candidate shows any outstanding debt from the 2006 leadership race," says the Quebec wing in a submission to the Liberal party national executive.
The submission, obtained Friday by The Canadian Press, will be considered by the national executive as it meets this weekend to set the place, time and rules for the leadership convention.
Privately, supporters of Kennedy, Hall Findlay and other camps are furious with Michael Ignatieff, the perceived front-runner whose supporters dominate the Quebec wing's board of directors. The board unanimously approved the submission, which rival camps contend is aimed at erecting barriers to potential candidates through a variety of measures.
But the proposal to exclude indebted candidates from 2006 could technically bar Ignatieff himself from running again. While his camp has said he's now debt-free, Ignatieff's last financial report filed with Elections Canada suggests he still owes about $60,000.
And Jill Fairbrother, a spokeswoman for Ignatieff, said late Friday that he had nothing to do with drafting the proposals and does not support them.
"Michael Ignatieff would never endorse these proposals," she said.
Still, word of the Quebec wing's recommendations infuriated other camps.
"There are some Liberals who continue to see the party as a closed, private club and think the leader should be chosen by a coin toss or by the party elites," said Rob Silver, a spokesman for Kennedy.
"The reason Gerard Kennedy had so much support last leadership is he trusts grassroots Liberals and thinks that it is attitudes like these that are at the core of our current problems."
Kennedy ran a close fourth in 2006. He eventually became the kingmaker, throwing his support to the third-place Dion who went on to score a come-from-behind victory over Ignatieff and Bob Rae.
Hall Findlay, the only woman to stay in the 2006 race until the end, blasted the idea of imposing "artificial, exclusionary barriers" based on a candidate's ability to raise money. Had the party gone that route last time, she said, no female candidates or dark horses, including Dion, would have been able to run.
"More importantly, had that been the attitude six years ago in the United States, Barack Obama would not be president-elect today," she said.
Hall Findlay said it's possible the Quebec recommendations emanate from "an honest concern" over Liberal party finances, which is understandable even if the proposals are objectionable.
"If, however, it is an effort to specifically exclude certain candidates or provide advantage to certain other candidates, then this should raise some very large flags about the conduct of this leadership campaign."
Hall Findlay said she and other indebted candidates will have to factor their ability to raise money into their decisions about whether or not to run this time. But she added: "We don't need others to make that determination."
Since the last leadership contest, Hall Findlay and Kennedy have devoted themselves to winning seats in the Commons, efforts that diverted them from paying off their leadership debts.
Rae, who quickly paid off his own debts from 2006, said he is "personally not in favour" of the proposal to exclude those who've not yet retired their debts. His camp said it had nothing to do with drafting the Quebec proposals.
A spokesman for New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc, another probable contender, said the recommendations "could inhibit full participation," which is exactly the reverse of what the party needs to do.
"We have to be reasonable but we also have to bring in new people, new ideas, new energy," said Cyrus Reporter.
"We have to re-engage Canadians and there's no shortcut to doing that."
The party had planned to hold a policy convention in Vancouver May 1-4 and, until recently, had been widely expected to simply turn that into a leadership convention.
However, there's been mounting pressure, including in the Quebec wing's submission, to change the venue to central Canada.
Insiders say Toronto is the only other plausible location but the convention would have to be held in mid-April, which would push back the time available to recruit new party members to December under party rules. As the front-runner, rival camps contend that Ignatieff is the only candidate likely to benefit from a shorter membership sales period.
Some Liberals argue that a central location would be cheaper. But rival camps privately suspect Ignatieff's team is pushing the move because delegates from Quebec, where Ignatieff is dominant, are more likely to travel to Toronto than Vancouver.
