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“But they will have to submit that information before . . . they receive their bond back,” he added in reference to a $20,000 compliance bond candidates pay to the party.

Money raised before the official start of the leadership contest cannot be used by the campaigns. The rule brought in by the PC board was viewed as primarily aimed at Kenney, the former Conservative MP running for the leadership on a platform of uniting the Tories with the Wildrose.

Kenney’s Unite Alberta organization embarked on extensive fundraising activities when he launched his campaign in July. The campaign said last week that Unite Alberta had raised $497,000 in the run-up to the campaign launch, with almost all of the money spent.

Blaise Boehmer, a spokesman for the Kenney campaign, said in an email that the campaign has always promised that it would declare its pre-writ fundraising activities — even before the PC board’s decision — despite there being no provincial rules requiring that disclosure.

While Kenney told Postmedia in July he was uncertain when the disclosure would take place, Boehmer said that the campaign has always intended for it to occur at the end of the campaign.

“In practical terms, we are treating the entire campaign (i.e. pre-writ and post-writ) as one comprehensive campaign period and, as such, we will disclose donor information at the conclusion of the campaign,” he said in a statement, noting that Unite Alberta had also voluntarily abided by rules setting donation limits and banning corporate donations.