Tories raised nearly $23 million in campaign funds last year: Elections Canada

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative party raised $22.7 million last year to stock its war chest and help run its successful election campaign.

The figure was released Wednesday by Elections Canada, confirming the long-held view that the governing Tories are experts at political fundraising.

Although similar figures were released for the other major political parties, details on the NDP's financial records for 2011 were not released because the party requested an extension to the July 3, 2012 deadline.

But once those records are filed with Elections Canada and publicly released, most expect the governing Tories to remain — far and away — the party that raised the most cash.

The evidence comes from the financial returns for 2011 filed by parties to Elections Canada. It's an annual document, but the 2011 report was more significant than most because parties generally raise more funds in election years.

Here are the highlights:

- The Tories received $22.7 million in contributions from 110,267 individuals.

- The Liberals received $10.1 million from 49,650 people.

- The Green party received $1.7 million from 12,590 people.

- The Bloc Quebecois received $789,491 from 7,056 people.

It's not known why the NDP asked for more time to file its report. Elections Canada said Wednesday that the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada can grant an extension if a party requests it.

Seven parties applied for and received an extension: the NDP; the Canadian Action Party; the First Peoples National Party of Canada; the Marijuana Party; the Pirate Party of Canada; the Rhinoceros Party; and the United Party of Canada.

Also Wednesday, Elections Canada revealed the latest figures showing how much money the major parties recently received in public subsidies from the government.

In the last campaign, Harper vowed to end those taxpayer-financed subsidies, which parties have received for nearly a decade and which are based on the number of votes they won in the previous election.

The government is phasing out the subsidies over three years, forcing the parties to rely even more on their own fundraising drives.

The gradual cuts began in the second quarter of this year. Instead of receiving $2.04 for every vote they got in the last election, the main parties received $1.53 per vote.

Here's what they received in the April 1-June 30 "quarterly allowance":

- Conservatives — $2.2 million

- NDP — $1.7 million

- Liberals — $1 million

- Bloc Quebecois — $340,970

- Green party — $218,826

Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Mark Kennedy