Paul Antle rules out running for Liberal leadership again

Businessman Paul Antle is ruling out another run for the leadership of the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal Party.

In a news release Wednesday morning, Antle who lost to Dwight Ball in the 2013 Liberal leadership race said he has no intention to run to replace the outgoing premier.

"At the urging of people from all over the province, I have given full consideration to running. But after much deliberation I have decided not to run. I want to thank all those who were willing to support my candidacy," Antle said in the release.

Antle,who also lost a 2018 byelection to PC Leader Ches Crosbie in the Windsor Lake district,said heintends to focus on building the aquaculture industry in Marystown and the Burin Peninsula.

"I committed to revitalizing the former Marystown shipyard by developing an aquaculture service hub that will provide badly needed employment, much needed support to fish farmers, and other economic activity to the region," he said.

"I simply cannot walk away from that commitment."

On Tuesday morning on Twitter, Antle criticizedthe provincial Liberals for not introducing a spending cap in its list of rules for those seeking the party's leadership bid during their campaign runs.

Antlesaid a spending capshould have been introduced in 2013.

"No excuse in 2020, especially given the premiership is at stake. Not too late! If the party doesn't step up the candidates can," he tweeted.

$25K fee an issue, says electoral reform group

A group that advocates for more transparent elections says Antle has a point.

In 2018, the Citizens' Assembly for Stronger Elections looked into ways to make municipal elections fairer, and the group's co-chair said there are principles that can be applied to provincial politics, such as not allowing campaign donations from numbered companies that shield the true identities of the donors.

"It creates that lack of transparency for ordinary citizens to really be able to understand where those donations are coming from," said Caitlin Urquhart.

"It's very concerning that there are no caps on spending and that there's no reporting or transparency in where the money is coming from or howit's spent."

But when it comes to the provincial leadership race, Urquhart says the first problem is with the $25,000 needed to get on the ballot in the first place.

"That's not a number that most folks would be able to access, that dollar value, in a short turnaround," she said.

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