Gould calls out 'very, very high' Liberal leadership fee ahead of fundraising deadline
Liberal leadership candidates need to pay $125K by Friday night
Liberal leadership hopeful Karina Gould said she doesn't yet have the money to stay in the race, but is working hard to meet what she calls "an extremely aggressive fundraising deadline."
To compete to become the next Liberal leader, and by extension Canada's next prime minister, candidates need to pay $350,000, made in instalments. A major chunk, $125,000, is due at 5 p.m Friday.
The former House leader told CBC's Power & Politics she's "confident" her campaign will meet the fast-approaching deadline but said the party's decision has consequences.
"The party set the entry fee for this race very, very high," Gould said.
"That means that there are a number of potential candidates that may have run that didn't and there are a couple that have already dropped out because of that."
During a news conference earlier Thursday, she also called out "the party establishment" for keeping people out of the race.
Gould said 85 per cent of her donations are $200 or less, which to her means she has the backing of everyday Canadians.
The Liberal Party has said it will host debates sometime after Feb. 17, when the final payment is due.
"I don't think a coronation is good for the party," she said. "I think what is best is a diversity of voices having a debate about who we are as a party and what we want to do as a country. The party set this fee high. They'll have to explain why they did that."
Candidates pitch policies
Montreal businessman Frank Baylis told host David Cochrane he's on track to meet Friday's deadline "no problem."
Earlier in the day, Baylis presented a three-point government reform plan, which would limit terms for senators and MPs to 10 years, create a second chamber for debate in the House of Commons and redistribute power to MPs rather than party leaders.
He said MPs would have to sit out for a "prolonged period" before becoming eligible to run again. Senators, who may hold their seat until the mandatory retirement age of 75, would be limited to one 10-year term.
"What we need is for people to come to Ottawa, use their expertise to contribute to the debate and then move on to leave space for new Canadians to come take their place," he said at a news conference in Ottawa.
"I don't want professional politicians."
He wasn't the only one pitching policy on the eve of the next deadline. At a news conference in Toronto, Gould outlined her housing policy, which mainly consists of creating an accord program with provinces and territories to speed up housing initiatives and offering a $2,000 tax credit on the provincial land transfer tax for first-time homebuyers.
"We will partner with municipalities to streamline zoning and build more homes faster with a new round of housing accelerator funding," she said.
Gould said she would offer interest-free loans to first-time homebuyers worth up to 50 per cent of the home's purchase price. Previous iterations of the program had limited the loans to about 10 per cent. The homebuyer would have up to 25 years to repay the federal government, she said.
The Burlington, Ont., MP said she would also hit Canada's NATO defence spending target by 2027.
Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland announced on Thursday that she as well intends to have Canada hit that benchmark of two per cent of gross domestic product spent on the military by 2027 if elected leader, while former central banker Mark Carney committed to 2030 earlier this week.
Former MP Ruby Dhalla is also still in the race.
The Liberal Party will choose its next leader — and Canada's next prime minister — on March 9.