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OTTAWA — The federal Liberal party appears headed for a repeat of the 2006 fiasco over unpaid leadership campaign loans, with three candidates in this year’s race reporting large debts they have been unable to pay off.

Financial reports published by Elections Canada on Tuesday show Liberal MP and unsuccessful leadership contender Marc Garneau was left with $45,000 in unpaid loans and another $54,100 in unpaid bills owed to two consulting companies.

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Two long-shot candidates also ran up big debts: Deborah Coyne’s campaign still had $61,000 in unpaid loans outstanding and while Karen McCrimmon’s campaign reported owing $47,000.

Mr. Garneau had borrowed $60,400 to run his campaign, including $10,000 from Kanata’s Plasco Energy Group and $25,200 from a Zenon Domanczuk of Montreal. He also lent his own campaign $25,200. His return shows repayments of only $15,400.

They now face the onerous task of raising money to finance a campaign they have already lost — the same circumstance that befell six candidates in the 2006 leadership race, including eventual winner Stéphane Dion.