To become officially verified, candidates have to submit $300,000 and 3,000 signatures by March 25, and some are concerned the current market meltdown could add to that challenge.

'I thought we were pretty good, but we're no better than the scheming, goddamned NDP and the Liberals,’ says Oakville Conservative riding association president Brian Cargill.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has been centralizing its application processing 'to improve client service,’ says Kevin Lemkay, press secretary to Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino.

The Conservative Party’s 20-member national council decided that if the next federal election is called by June 2021, all 121 incumbent MPs will automatically be nominated.

'This is a situation where there is no winning hand to be played,' says Clive Veroni.

'It clearly is becoming a moment in Canada where everyone's paying attention,’ says Innovative Research president Greg Lyle.

'If you're a donor, why would you want to give money if you can't get straight answers on what the hell's going on?’ says veteran Conservative political insider Tim Powers.

Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie wants the national council to protect all caucus members from nomination challenges until the next election so they can focus on their parliamentary work in Ottawa.

'I think that kind of transparency would certainly help people believe that the money is properly dispensed and properly governed,' says Conservative MP and leadership candidate Marilyn Gladu.

The Liberal House leadership is training new MPs to prepare them to navigate the tricky situations that can arise in a minority Parliament, say Liberal sources.

Former foreign affairs minister Peter MacKay has been officially approved to enter the leadership contest, while Conservative MP Erin O’Toole, Conservative MP MarilynRick Peterson are still undergoing the review process.

Seasoned Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux says, based on conversations he had in the last Parliament, most MPs want to change some of the rules on the Hill and breathe new life into how Ottawa works.

Liberal MPs have been asked to hold consultations about the government’s priorities in their ridings, and report back to cabinet.

The 'huge overstep by the Conservative Fund’ to fire executive director Dustin van Vugt has created ‘bad blood’ between the national council and the fund, says Yaroslav Baran, a former senior Conservative Hill staffer.

Some Conservatives say Stephen Harper is certainly entitled to his opinion, but others say he should stay out of this critical leadership race.

‘It's almost like we're seeing a new prime minister,’ says Jennifer Stewart, CEO Of Syntax Strategies.

Being able to raise funds is a key prerequisite to be an effective leader, says veteran Conservative political insider Tim Powers.

The Trudeau Liberals are holding their winter national caucus meeting in Ottawa Jan. 22-24; however, it's unclear if the party’s electoral performance will be dissected at the meeting.

‘It's a race to get the best people to work on the campaign,’ says a Conservative source, while caucus members hedge support until the full field of candidates is revealed.

Dustin van Vugt, executive director of the Conservative Party at the time, who wrote the cheque ‘is gone,' but Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who 'cashed' the cheque ‘is still around.'

Senior PMO staffer George Young moves to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s office as his chief of staff.

John Reynolds, a former Conservative MP and a fundraiser for one of the groups that pushed Andrew Scheer to resign as leader of the party, says Michael Fortier spoke to him recently about running for the party's top job.

Cabinet ministers will have to directly lobby all MPs on House committees to get their legislation through, say government and opposition MPs.

Andrew Scheer ‘needs to demonstrate very quickly that he can garner the overwhelming backing of the party to move forward, or for the good of the party, he should step down,’ a Conservative MP told The Hill Times.