Alberta Liberals set leadership timeline

The Alberta Liberals havelaid out a plan to find a new leader, who will take over by Christmas.

The party's board of directors met in Red Deer on Sunday to draw up a plan to find a successor to outgoing leader Kevin Taft, who in June announced his resignation.

The party lost seven of its 16 seats in the March 3 provincial election, while Ed Stelmach's Conservatives returned to power in a landslide win, taking 72 of 83 legislative seats.

Nominations for the Alberta Liberal leadership will be open until the end of September, and voting will be held between Dec. 5 and 12.

The party has instituted new declaration rules for donations to the leadership race that affect contributions of more than $375.

Party an estimated $600,000 in debt

Party president Grant Dunlop said despite speculation about the party's future, the Alberta Liberals are not in danger of folding.

It's estimated the Opposition party is $600,000 in debt, but Dunlop said they aren't as bad off as they have been in the past.

"We're working towards paying them off," he told CBC News on Sunday. "We continue to cut expenses so that we have the ability to pay them off. But there is a definite lull when you're coming out of an election and when you have the impending leadership contest. That creates a bit of a vacuum in donations, so that's a challenge that we're facing."

He said dedicated supporters are making monthly donations, which helps the party pay down the debt and move forward.