Beaver Staff
Hastings-Lennox and Addington MP Derek Sloan has cleared the second hurdle towards becoming an official candidate to replace Andrew Scheer as leader of the conservative Party of Canada.
Sloan is one of six candidates who have garnered 1,000 signatures of party members distributed across at least 30 ridings in seven different provinces or territories, as well as paying $25,000 towards the $200,000 entry fee.
Sloan is joined by Peter MacKay, Erin O’Toole, Leslyn Lewis, Marilyn Gladu and Jim Karahalios as candidates who have met the next threshold. The deadline to reach those requirements is today at 5 p.m.
The next and final step will require a further 1,000 signatures as well as payment of the remaining $150,000 by Mar. 25. Passing that step will get a candidate on the ballot. All told, the candidates must acquire 3,000 signatures and submit $300,000 to the party in what one CBC report has called the most expensive political leadership contest in Canadian history. A third of that fee is a $100,000 refundable compliance deposit.