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At least three potential candidates disagree.

Alex Tyrrell, who leads the Green Party of Quebec, declared his intention to run two weeks ago but is now reconsidering.

“They are saying they are putting the party for sale,” said Tyrrell. “It’s like they’re looking for candidates who hang out in country clubs.”

Constantine Kritsonis, who ran for the Greens in seven elections, immediately withdrew his name from the race after seeing the rules. He said he agrees there has to be some fee in place and was willing to put out up to $10,000 but $50,000 is too much.

“The leadership contest should be about getting our ideas out there and encouraging debate among Greens, about the direction that we’re going in,” he said. “I think it’s unfair that money gets to be the deciding factor of who gets to participate and who does not get to participate.”

Quebec lawyer Dimitri Lascaris said he was holding off making his decision about running until he saw the rules, because he was afraid the party’s centralized power system would arrange things to keep certain types of candidates out. The secretive vetting process is entirely against the Greens’ structure as a participatory democracy, said Lascaris.

“It’s preposterous,” he said.

He said the party allows rejected candidates to appeal but said that is impossible if a candidate isn’t told why they were turned away.

“I am deeply troubled by that,” he said.

Both Lascaris and Kritsonis have been critical of the Green party’s current policies, think the party under May has become too mainstream and want to move the party back to the left of the spectrum.