Conservatives Dominate Another Fundraising Quarter
May 4, 2010 · By Richard Albert
To say that the Conservative Party raised the most money in the last quarter would be to give you only part of the story.
The story would not be complete without repeating what has now become a familiar refrain in Canadian federal politics: the Conservative Party dominated yet another fundraising quarter.
Here are the most recent fundraising numbers for the quarter ending March 2010, as detailed in the political financing database of Elections Canada:
Conservative Party: $4,023,923.14
Liberal Party: $1,589,953.81
Bloc Québécois: $123,069.64
NDP: $900,198.01
Green Party: $233,285.57
To put it in other words, the Conservative Party raised $1,177,416.11 more than all other political parties combined.
What is more, the Conservative Party attracted just about as many contributors as all other parties put together: there were 32,466 Conservative donors versus 32,537 donors for the Liberal Party, the Bloc Québécois, the NDP, and the Green Party.
Just a few years ago under the leadership of Jean Chrétien, the Liberal Party was firmly entrenched as the dominant force in Canadian political fundraising. But no longer.
In recent years, the Conservative Party has consistently outperformed the other parties, both with respect to dollars and donors.
What explains this contemporary reversal of fortunes? I suggest two possibilities: this man and this law, which was amended by this important Act in 2004.
Do any other possibilities come to mind?
When you believe in your cause, charity or political party the grassroots will support with cash. Its obvious that Conservatives believe (even if if the message is not perfect) in putting their money where it counts. Liberals were so used to vacuuming the dollars from corporate interests and mega fund raisers, they forgot to persuade the base to support them. Cheers
Indeed, and yet the CPC can’t eek out a majority. Perhaps it’s because they’ve all but abandoned conservatism.
“Do any other possibilities come to mind?”
Uh…yeah. Incumbent parties ALWAYS raise more money.
Right on Mark! The best strategy for the CPC would be to get right back on a purely conservative platform!
Please let this happen!
The only reason why they win Ontario is because they’ve abandoned conservatism. Go back to the old ways and you’ll get the old results. Part of nationalizing the reform brand was to shift to the center.
Yes Mark, RD, let’s do that. Because we all know that getting Canadians to quit cold turkey from the socialist addictions and subsequently suffering the withdrawal symptoms is by far the more preferred option than slowly weaning them off through reason and incremental education.
Socialism and socialist policy wins it’s battles with the 30-second soundbite that appeals to the heartstrings and appealing to emotion. The values of conservatism require explanation and reasoning and wins through incremental attrition as people become convinced and sold on reality.
It’s politics of the head vs politics of the heart. Guess which one Canadians prefer by-and-large. I’ll give you a hint. It’s the easy road.