Liberal leadership candidates set to clear final hurdle to stay in race – National

It’s deadline day for candidates to pay up so they can stay in the running to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader — and the field appears to be set.

The final $125,000 instalment of a total $350,000 entrance fee is due by the end of the day — a high bar of entry for such a short race.

The campaigns for Chrystia Freeland, Frank Baylis and Karina Gould all confirm they have already made their final payment.

Ruby Dhalla tweeted Sunday evening that she has delivered her last payment to the party.

Mark Carney’s campaign meanwhile says he will pay the last instalment to the party today.

The candidates are scheduled to square off in two debates early next week in Montreal, one in English and one in French.

There are just three weeks left in the race before the party selects its next leader on March 9.

Carney’s leadership campaign says he’s raised more than $1.9 million in donations from over 11,000 people.

Some of the other campaigns would not speak to how much they have raised so far.

But Elections Canada is expected to soon reveal the first batch of fundraising numbers from all the leadership hopefuls.