Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif lists the financial issues alone:
Whoever replaces Michael Ignatieff next week will be the Liberals’ fifth leader in five years. And he, or she, won’t be getting much of a prize. Fewer seats, less status and no keys to Stornoway.
The Liberals will also have to rebuild with less funding: fewer votes mean less public subsidy, and the NDP now receives the money allocated to the Official Opposition.
If Stephen Harper indeed eliminates public subsidies for the parties, they will be further pushed to do more with less. The Liberals will have to relearn how to talk to voters to get their money and their support.
The current system has worked well for the Liberals, allowing them to reduce their dependence on individual donations to the party. Changing that system now will be a double burden for them, as they will have to ramp up their fundraising efforts from a much-reduced base (and still facing the costs of the most recent election campaign).
Also, someone needs to ask Elections Canada how much money is still outstanding from the last (and maybe second to last) Liberal leadership race. They have received a free ride for far too long. I hope that the CPC eliminates the subsidy!
Comment by Dwayne — May 4, 2011 @ 21:56
I think Elections Canada will get around to doing their job in time. If some in the decision-making process have been dragging their heels for partisan reasons (I don’t know whether this is the case), the election results on Monday will have put a definite finish to that. They’ve got a Tory government for the next four years, guaranteed, so any attempt to avoid that investigation will now draw unwelcome attention from parliament.
It may not happen until the most recent election paperwork is complete (90 days at a minimum), but it now is on a formal timer to happen. If nothing happens by the end of this calendar year, formal questions should be raised in the house.
Comment by Nicholas — May 5, 2011 @ 09:43