Mississauga Brampton-South MP Eve Adams surprised the political world when she crossed the floor to join the Liberal party earlier this week and then announced that she would seek the party’s nomination in Eglinton-Lawrence.

Though a nomination date has not yet been set for the riding, the race to carry the party’s banner against Finance Minister Joe Oliver in the upcoming election is bound to be an interesting one, especially with the controversial Adams now in the fold.

Here is a list of five things you need to know:

Adams will have to hit the ground running

Adams has already drawn criticism for parachuting into the riding with Eglinton-Lawrence MPP Mike Colle telling The Canadian Press that it’s a “real insult to the local Liberals” that the former Tory is suddenly in the fold, despite having no apparent connections to the area. For her part, Adams told CP24 on Wednesday that she does have some family in Eglinton-Lawrence and is looking to buy a house there. Time will be of the essence as Adams looks to build connections with constituents, though. According to Liberal party bylaws, a period of 13 to 20 days warning is all that has to be given for a nomination meeting to be held and with a federal election expected in October you can expect that meeting will come sooner rather than later. In fact elsewhere in the GTA a number of liberal nomination conventions have already been held and Eglinton-Lawrence is one of the few ridings without a candidate at this point.

Campaign won’t be akin to Parliamentary run

Despite the intense national attention on Eglinton-Lawrence, the campaign itself will exist on the same smaller scale as all local nomination races, meaning Adam’s success will hinge largely on how many members she can recruit to her new party. She won’t have a lot of resources at her disposal in doing that, though, as Elections Canada caps spending on nomination races at 20 per cent of the limit on campaign spending, which in Eglinton-Lawrence equals out to $17,790.61. Individuals can donate to local nomination races but their contributions are not considered tax-deductible, as they are in municipal, provincial and federal elections.

Prospective candidates need 100 signatures

Though Adams will likely be the most well-known name in the race for the Liberal nomination, she won’t be the only one. Lawyer Marco Mendicino has already started campaigning and enjoys the support of provincial riding association president Pietro Cugliari, among others. Former cabinet minister Joe Volpe’s son Flavio is also reportedly after the nomination, though Adams told CP24 on Wednesday that she has been told that Volpe will not be running against her. In order to run for the nomination, prospective candidates just need to submit a form with 100 signatures from riding association members and $1,000 to go towards the cost of staging the contest.

Race will be governed by Elections Canada rules

Though Adams and other prospective candidates will not officially be on the ballot until they complete their paperwork and the date for a nomination meeting is set, Elections Canada has stricter standards and will consider anyone who has accepted a donation or incurred a campaign expense a candidate. That means that recent entrants or aspiring entrants to the race like Adams need to be careful as they may already be subject to Elections Canada rules.

Income splitting likely to be major issue

Adams has only begun her campaign but it’s already clear that the former Tory hopes to turn the race into a referendum on a policy she once ran on — income splitting. In explaining her decision to leave the Conservative party on Monday, Adams chose to put forth the taxation policy as an example of what she called the “mean-spiritedness” of the Conservative leadership. Adams then identified income splitting as a key issue in Eglinton-Lawrence while speaking with CP24 on Wednesday. Income splitting allows a taxpayer to assign up to $50,000 of their income to their spouse for tax purposes. “It is really a very unfair proposal. Basically it pits one group of Canadians over another in order to get a few extra votes,” Adams said. “Very few Canadians would actually benefit from income splitting and the middle class would end up paying for it.

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