OTTAWA - Special Liberal fundraising events have so far failed to put much of a dent in the almost $4 million in debts racked up by 11 former leadership contenders.
The first event in Halifax two weeks ago -- a cocktail reception featuring Leader Stephane Dion and six of his erstwhile rivals -- attracted about 60 people who paid $250 each. After expenses, however, party insiders say the event netted only about $5,400.
The spoils were divvied up equally among the seven former leadership contenders who participated, leaving each with about $750. Insiders with several camps complain that the event didn't make enough to cover even air fare to Halifax for some candidates, much less help retire their combined debt of $3.6 million.
A similar event in Ottawa a couple of days later was somewhat more successful, attracting about 100 people at $250 a head. It's not clear how much money was cleared after expenses or how much went to each of the seven candidates who attended.
Senator Marie Poulin, the party's president, said the final numbers have not yet been tallied for either event.
Still, they were enough of a bust that two similar fundraisers planned for Toronto the following week were cancelled.
Poulin said the events were "an opportunity for us to test an approach to joint fundraising.'' She said the party recognizes that holding events in July, when many Canadians take vacation, is too difficult and officials are now concentrating on organizing two joint leadership fundraisers in Ontario next month, in Markham and Windsor.
Nevertheless, she said the first two events demonstrated "a superb spirit'' and a firm resolve on the part of the party and former leadership aspirants to wipe out all leadership debts.
"(I'm) far from discouraged. I find that there's a collective spirit and a collective willingness and there's a team approach.''
But insiders in various camps lay the blame squarely on Dion's office for the flops thus far. They say the leader's office didn't consult with local Liberals about the best timing or location for fundraisers and gave them only a couple weeks notice to try to rustle up potential donors who hadn't already contributed the legal maximum of $1,100 to leadership campaigns.
Gerard Kennedy, the fourth-place finisher in the leadership, allowed that summer is a difficult time to stage events, especially given the short notice.
"To make it worthwhile, you do need a longer lead time,'' he said.
Kennedy said the events were hastily arranged to coincide with Dion's summer travel schedule. Nevertheless, he said the first two events were "a good trial run'' that will help the party learn how to stage more successful fundraisers in future.
"I think what it shows is that the party is very serious about raising dollars and it's going to try a bunch of different things. Some of them are going to work stupendously well and some of them are going to work a little bit less well and that's fine,'' he said.
"The Liberal party has at least come to grips with the fact that we have to be busy when it comes to raising funds.''
Kennedy said a major joint leadership event is in the works for British Columbia in the fall. With proper planning and lead time, he predicted it will be "a bit of a blockbuster event.''
The Liberal party, historically the most reliant on corporate largesse, has been struggling to raise money since political financing reforms in 2004 banned corporate donations and severely limited individual donations. Stephen Harper's Conservatives, who've been pulling in 10 times more money than the Grits, tightened the restrictions even further this year.
The Liberals are the first federal party to conduct a leadership contest under the stringent new rules. Most of the 11 candidates found it difficult to raise money and wound up taking out big loans.
According to financial statements filed with Elections Canada, Dion is carrying the steepest individual debt -- almost $850,000 in loans and unpaid bills. Runner-up Michael Ignatieff owes just over $777,000 while third-place finisher Bob Rae has outstanding loans of $222,000.
Kennedy's debts total $567,000, although he has said the reporting format required by Elections Canada double-counted some of his loans and exaggerated his actual debt load.
Ken Dryden, would up with debts totalling $403,000, Scott Brison $150,000, Martha Hall Findlay $261,000, Maurizio Bevilacqua $296,000 and Carolyn Bennett $34,000. Joe Volpe and Hedy Fry have yet to file their financial statements.
All leadership loans must be paid off by June 2008. After that, Elections Canada can agree to extend the repayment period or allow candidates to simply write them off, in effect turning unpaid loans into donations far in excess of the legal $1,100 limit.
The Liberal party is anxious to avoid having any loans written off, which would doubtless prompt accusations that it was exploiting a loophole to circumvent political financing laws.
