OTTAWA—Federal Conservatives have raised more money since 2004 than their three federal political rivals combined — a fundraising feat that promises to give Stephen Harper a vital edge once he scraps public subsidies of political parties.
Monday’s budget will set the clock ticking on a phase-out of the $2-per-vote subsidy of federal political parties by 2015.
While Harper stands on principle in making the move, a Star analysis of party contributions reveals he can comfortably turn off the funding tap, confident that his own supporters will keep party coffers filled.
For the last seven years, the Conservatives have far outpaced the other parties when it comes to keeping the war chest stocked, raising more money from more supporters than their political challengers.
Since 2004, the Tories have raised $138.1 million, more than double the Liberals’ $54.6 million. The NDP pulled in $36.3 million and the Green Party got $7.9 million in donations.
But the true success of the Conservatives’ fundraising efforts lies in their grassroots support. During this time period, they got 895,971 contributions — more than three times the 296,592 contributions received by the Liberals.
Full Article
Democracy Gone Astray
Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.
All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.
[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment