P.E.I. Liberals will not publicly disclose donations to leadership candidates

The P.E.I. Liberals will choose their next leader on October 25, 2026. Stu Neatby The Guardian While it remains to be seen if the the Liberal leadership race this fall will be contested, it is clear donations made to specific leadership candidates will not be made public by the party. The party’s leadership contest rules, posted online this week, will not require the party to make public a list of contributions to individual candidates in the race. Earlier this summer, the provincial Progressive Conservatives did make public the donors’ list to both candidates in their February leadership vote as per the rules in their contest. The rules for the Liberal leadership race limit campaign expenses to $50,000 and set a $3,400 cap on individual donations to candidates. Earlier this week, Dan Kutcher stepped down as Summerside mayor to became the first candidate to officially enter the race for the party’s leadership. So far, no other candidates have been officially approved by the party’s leadership green light committee. All donations reported Katie Morello, president of the Liberal Party of P.E.I., confirmed the party will not be identifying donors to specific leadership campaigns. However, she said the party will be reporting all donations made during the leadership contest to Elections P.E.I. Katie Morello, president of the Liberal Party of P.E.I., said the party chose to follow the rules set out for candidate financing set out in the Election Expenses Act for their party leadership race. Stu Neatby/File The Guardian Morello suggested this is above and beyond what is required of the party under P.E.I. election laws. She pointed to a statement posted on the Elections P.E.I. website, which says that money donated to party leadership candidates are “not considered a contribution” to a political candidate under the Election Expenses Act. Elections P.E.I.’s interpretation of the Election Expenses Act also says that donations to party leadership candidates are not subject to limits and do not have to be reported publicly. “Since our legislation is basically silent on leadership races, we do not have the authority over them at this time with our current legislation,” said Elections P.E.I. CEO Tim Garrity in an email to The Guardian. Read More Dan Kutcher announces P.E.I. Liberal leadership bid, stepping down as Summerside mayor P.E.I. Progressive Conservatives release donor list from party leadership race Morello said the party decided that all…