The NDP is aiming for a leadership convention in Central Canada in March or April, hopefully giving candidates enough time to recruit new members while making sure the next leader faces off against the Conservatives in the House before the summer break.
Given that recent NDP conventions were held in Vancouver and Halifax, the party's federal council will look at options in Ontario and Quebec when it sets the final leadership rules on Friday. Options include holding the convention in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City, according to a senior NDP official.
The timing depends on the availability of convention centres in the selected city. The party has had to move swiftly to organize a leadership race after Jack Layton's death from cancer last month.
While some NDP officials mused about a January convention, there is now a consensus in the party in favour of a longer race to allow all candidates to become better known. Another key concern is a desire to sell memberships in Quebec, where most MPs were elected last May, but where the party membership lags behind the rest of the country.
"March or April are the likely landing spots," the official said.
All NDP members across Canada will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite leadership candidate, but many of them will want to gather at the convention to participate directly in the leadership activities.
Party officials said Thursday that the NDP federal council is unlikely to allocate a set portion of the votes to the labour movement – a possibility that sparked much debate among potential candidates in recent days.
One of the big questions that will be determined by the federal council will be the spending limit. In the 2003 race, it was set at $500,000, but legislative changes the following year banned union and corporate donations to political parties.
Some NDP officials are worried about a race in which candidates rack up significant debt, which happened to Liberal candidates in the party's 2006 leadership race. Some of the Liberal candidates are still struggling to settle their tabs five years down the road.
"Without question, we're living under different laws of the land," the NDP official said. "Will the federal council learn from the experience of the Liberal Party?"
The NDP charged a $7,500 entry fee for the 2003 race, but the amount is expected to be higher this time around, given that the winner will become the Leader of the Official Opposition and live at Stornoway.
Potential candidates include NDP president Brian Topp; NDP House Leader Thomas Mulcair; and MPs Françoise Boivin, Robert Chisholm, Nathan Cullen, Peter Julian, Megan Leslie and Peggy Nash.