The Liberal leadership race is heating up with Freeland and Carney as frontrunners, while others may struggle to enter.

The party has set some pretty strict rules. Candidates need to cough up a $350,000 entrance fee, paid in four parts. The first $50,000 is refundable, but the rest? Not so much.
Fred DeLorey, a Tory organizer, thinks this tight timeline means it’ll likely just be Carney and Freeland in the race. He’s betting on it. Lower-profile candidates might find it tough to raise that kind of cash quickly.
Martha Hall Findlay, who once ran against Trudeau, believes the steep fee is fair. It’ll help filter out the serious contenders. She thinks both Carney and Freeland will have no trouble raising the money, especially with a shorter campaign.
Candidates need to declare by January 23, and they’ll have a $5 million spending cap until the vote on March 9. A party source mentioned that the cap is high to cover unexpected costs during this short campaign.
DeLorey doubts anyone will spend close to that $5 million, calling it a lot for such a brief race. Back when Trudeau ran, candidates had a much lower spending limit.
The rules also say candidates can only donate $25,000 to their own campaigns. They’ll need to rely on fundraising, with individuals allowed to give up to $1,750.
The Liberal party raised $3.3 million in their last quarterly report, which isn’t too shabby, but they usually hit $5 million in a quarter.
The Conservatives had a $7 million cap for their leadership race that lasted about seven months. The Liberals have also set a $200,000 debt limit for candidates, which is up from $75,000 in 2013.
Some big names, like Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, have already said they won’t run.
Trudeau has been in the game since 2008, and whoever takes over will need to get the party ready for an early election after the leadership race wraps up in March.
The Liberals have 129 candidates nominated out of 343 ridings, while the Conservatives have about 221 and the New Democrats have 93.
With 153 MPs in the House of Commons, many high-profile members are stepping back from re-election.
Political science professor Randy Besco says the new leader will have to quickly get their campaign team together, as many from Trudeau’s office might not stick around.
Finding qualified people to run a national campaign is tough in Canada, and if a new leader comes in right before an election, it’ll be a big challenge.
While they won’t struggle to find candidates, attracting top talent could be tricky, especially with the Conservatives leading in the polls.
Late-nominated candidates might not have enough time to fundraise or connect with voters before the election kicks off. That’s going to be a hurdle for them.