Posts Tagged ‘political fundraising’
Government faces defeat over cuts to political subsidies
Canada’s opposition parties are threatening to defeat the Conservative government over cuts to political party subsidies included in Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s economic update.
Flaherty says the federal budget will go into deficit after accounting for the planned economic stimulus spending agreed by the G-20 nations.
We cannot ask Canadians to tighten their belts during tougher times without looking in the mirror. Canadians have a right to look to government as an example. We have a responsibility to show restraint and respect for their money. Canadian tax dollars are precious … Today, our Government is eliminating the $1.75-per-vote taxpayer subsidy for politicians and their parties, effective April 1, 2009.
- Finance Minister Jim Flaherty
Stéphane Dion’s long goodbye
Stéphane Dion announced he will step down as Liberal Party leader, but says he will stay on as interim leader until his replacement is chosen at a leadership convention next Spring.
I was told I gave a good performance, but it was not enough.
- Stéphane Dion
Dion blames last week’s electoral defeat on ‘Conservative propaganda’ and the Liberal Party’s inability to match Tory spending on advertising due to a ‘financial crisis’ caused by historically low fundraising capacity.
Links:
- The Daily Kos has embedded this video and posted a pundit’s round-up of Dion’s resignation.
Conservative’s Q2 fundraising tops all other parties combined
The Conservative Party continues to dominate political fundraising in the second quarter of 2008, collecting 65% of the total fundraising dollars, more than all other political parties combined.
The Conservatives are also the only political party to raise more money from their own efforts than from taxpayer subsidies.
Contributions to Political Parties
(2008 Q2)
| Conservative |
Liberal | NDP | Green | Bloc | |
| Total number of contributors | 33,833 | 9,556 | 11,941 | 3,184 | 607 |
| Total amount of contributions | $3,525,352 | $912,378 | $711,637 | $213,922 | $36,698 |
| Transfers from registered associations | 0 | $9,556 | $1,095 | $5,249 | $90 |
| Transfers from candidates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total Transfers | 0 | $67,158 | $352 | $6,592 | $62 |
| Grand Total | $3,525,352 | $979,536 | $711,732 | $219,171 | $36,851 |
| Average Contribution | $104.20 | $95.48 | $59.59 | $67.19 | $60.45 |
| Percent of Total | 65.3% | 16.9% | 13.2% | 4.0% | 0.7% |
The Liberal Party failed to attract as many donars as the New Democratic Party but received more total donations due to higher average individual contributions.
The NDP continued its recent fundraising success, attracting donations from more people than the Liberal Party, while the Green Party’s donations remained steady.
Links:
Tories receive 69% of political donations, NDP 16%, Liberals 12%
According to data released today by Elections Canada, the Conservative Party raised 69% of the money donated to political parties in the first quarter of 2008, a 7 point increase from 62% of the political donations in 2007.
Contributions to Political Parties
(2008 Q1)
| Conservative |
Liberal | NDP | Green | Bloc | |
| Total number of contributors | 44,345 | 10,169 | 13,329 | 4,731 | 463 |
| Total amount of contributions | $4,954,550 | $846,129 | $1,119,648 | $210,963 | $37,006 |
| Transfers from registered associations | 0 | $9,134 | $352 | $6,592 | $65 |
| Transfers from candidates | $268 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total transfers | $268 | $368,249 | $352 | $6,592 | $65 |
| Grand Total | $4,954,818 | $879,927 | $1,119,648 | $217,555 | $37,071 |
| Average contribution | $111.73 | $83.21 | $84.00 | $44.59 | $79.93 |
| Percent of total contributions | 68.7% | 12.2% | 15.5% | 3.0% | 0.5% |
The NDP raised 16% and the Liberal Party raised just 12% of the total political contributions.
For the first time, the NDP outperformed the Liberal Party in both total number of contributors and total contributions, while the Liberal Party fundraising ability continues to implode.
- Contributions: A Bigger Picture (Northern BC Dipper)
Tories dominate political fundraising in 2007
The Conservative Party raised more money in 2007 than all the other political parties combined, according to data released by Elections Canada. The Conservatives earned 62% of the fundraising dollars, while the Liberal Party raised 18%.
For the first time, more people donated money to the NDP than to the Liberal Party.
Contributions to Political Parties
(2007, Elections Canada)
| Conservative |
Liberal | NDP | Green | Bloc | |
| Total number of contributors | 159,122 | 35,783 | 53,110 | 12,003 | 5,038 |
| Total amount of contributions | $16,990,766 | $4,537,966 | $3,979,737 | $984,605 | $430,061 |
| Transfers from registered associations | $16,000 | $331,683 | $352 | $21,026 | $33,379 |
| Transfers from candidates | $5,282 | $331,683 | 0 | 0 | $1,855 |
| Total Transfers | $21,282 | $368,249 | $352 | $21,026 | $35,234 |
| Grand Total | $17,012,048 | $4,906,215 | $3,980,089 | $1,005,631 | $465,296 |
| Percent of Total | 62.2% | 17.9% | 14.5% | 3.7% | 1.7% |
The government’s Accountability Act came into effect on January 1, 2007 and imposed new limits on political donations that forbids political donations from corporations, trade unions, associations and other groups.
Now only individual Canadians to contribute, and only up to a limit of $1100 per person, per calendar year to each registered political party.
The new fund raising rules have proven to be a challenge for the Liberal Party whose finances heavily relied on large donations from corporations, trade unions and special interest groups.
Liberals oppose closing political financing loophole
Government House Leader Peter Van Loan introduces the Accountability with Respect to Loans bill as part of the government’s broader democratic reform agenda. The bill closes a loophole left open by the government’s Accountability Act which imposes new limits on contributions to political parties by allowing only contributions from individuals donating up to $1100 per year to each political party.
Both measures are designed to remove the influence of corporations, trade unions, special interests and wealthy individuals on the political process in favour of broad financial support from individual Canadians.
The new bill closes a loophole where private loans can be made to political parties with no expectation of repayment. The bill:
- Establishes a reporting regime for all loans to political parties, associations, and candidates, including mandatory disclosure of terms such as interest rates, and the identity of all lenders and loan guarantors;
- Bans unions and corporations from making loans to political parties;
- Limits total loans, loan guarantees, and contributions by individuals to $1100 per year as established in the Federal Accountability Act;
- Permits only registered Canadian financial institutions and other political entities to give loans beyond the $1100 limit;
- Makes riding associations responsible for unpaid loans to prevent candidates from avoiding payment.
The Liberal Party’s fundraising ability has been dramatically reduced by the current limits imposed by the Accountability Act, and they oppose this new bill to close the lending loophole. Despite this, the bill is expected to pass the House of Commons with the support of all the other political parties, but it may be blocked by the Liberal dominated Senate.
Political donations show broad Tory support, weak Liberal fundraising
Elections Canada has issued its first quarterly report on political party contributions since new limits on political donations came into effect January 1, 2007.
The government’s Accountability Act was a key Conservative promise in the last election campaign. The Act:
- Limits contributions to Canadian citizens only; corporations, trade unions, associations and other groups can no longer contribute;
- Limits contributions to $1100 per person, per calendar year to each registered political party, candidate or leadership candidate;
- Forbids cash contributions over $20;
- Forbids political contribution with money, property or services that were given to the contributor for that purpose;
The Act was designed to prevent the kind of corruption and abuse seen in the Liberal sponsorship scandal, and to refocus party financing away from contributions from corporations, unions, special interests and wealthy individuals.
The new rules have highlighted stark differences in the ability of Canada’s political parties to secure broad-based financial support from many contributors making donations under $1100.
Contributions to Political Parties (Q1 2007, Elections Canada)
| Conservative |
NDP | Liberal | Green | Bloc | |
| Contributions from individuals |
|||||
| Total number of contributors | 45,192 | 14,782 | 4,365 | 2,669 | 476 |
| Total amount of contributions ($) |
5,176,736 | 1,237,973 | 531,141 | 154,452 | 34,228 |
| Transfers | |||||
| Total transfers from registered associations ($) | 0 | 100 | 46,650 | 0 | 4,336 |
| Total transfers from candidates ($) | 0 | 0 | 11,050 | 0 | 1,855 |
| Total Transfers | 0 | 100 | 57,700 | 3,566 | 6,190 |
| Grand Total | $5,176,736 | $1,238,072 | $588,841 | $158,017 | $40,418 |
The Liberal Party has long based its fundraising on large donations from corporations, unions, special interest groups, and a small number of wealthy individuals. The loss of these funding sources has dramatically reduced contributions to the party.
By contrast, political contributions show broad-based support for the Conservative Party, receiving 10 times the donations from 10 times as many contributors as the Liberal Party.
Similarly, the NDP received donations from 3 times as many contributors as the Liberals.
