Amounts owing

The Sun updates the borrowing carried out by the Lib leadership candidates, and notes that it's still an open question as to whether some of the candidates will end up having to hope that both loans and electoral rules aren't enforced:

Big loans and tighter fundraising rules threaten to leave several Liberal leadership candidates at risk of defaulting on their debts and breaking the law, a watchdog is warning.

The most recent fundraising filings by the eight hopefuls to become Grit leader next month show several have borrowed nearly the same amount they have managed to raise since April, totalling $2.3 million...

Democracy Watch co-ordinator Duff Conacher predicts many of the candidates will end up defaulting on the loans, which must be paid back within 18 months of the December leadership vote in Montreal.

It's not clear from the article which candidates will face the biggest crunch, or how much of the money raised has been used to pay back loans rather than applied to campaign purposes. But there's no doubt that the Libs' early-campaign borrowing has only increased as time has gone on. And in the absence of any indication that the candidates' track record of shrugging off Elections Canada rules is about to improve anytime soon, it looks like there'll be a need for a close watch on the candidates as the deadlines pass to ensure that the loans don't ultimately prove a successful means of avoiding federal donation limits.