Skip to main content

Stock photo shows Canadian fifty-dollar bills.

Stephen Harper's Conservatives raised nearly $23-million in 2011, stuffing another $4.1-million into their war chest in the fourth quarter of the year.

This is $1-million more than the party raised in the third quarter of last year and it is above the $17.3-million the party raised in 2010. The fact that 2011 was an election year did help with fundraising.

Once again, however, the Tories are way out in front of the other opposition parties on the fundraising front. In 2011, the official opposition NDP raised $7.5-million and has some catching up to do to the third party Liberals, who have raised a total of $10.3-million.

Indeed, the Liberals have a little bit to cheer about, earning $1-million more in the fourth quarter over their third quarter results.

Between October and December, the NDP attracted $1.6-million compared to $2.7 for the Liberals; the Greens raised $383,292 and the Bloc received $141,243, according to Elections Canada returns, released Wednesday.

Telling, too, are the number of contributors to each party: the Tories, for example, raised their millions from 168,205 separate donations compared to the Liberals with 94,219 contributions. The NDP had a total of 72,326 contributions in 2011.

The Tories believe the fundraising results show Canadians are happy with their focus on jobs and growth. A party official notes the long-term trend that shows the Conservatives raised $5-million more than they did in 2009; the NDP raised $3.5 million more and the Liberals brought in $800,00 more.

In 2009, the Tories raised $17 million; the NDP raised $4 million and the Liberals raised $9.5 million. In 2010, the Liberals raised $6.6 million compared to $4.3 million for the NDP and $17.4 for the Conservatives.

A senior Liberal party official says despite the "disastrous election result," 2011 has turned out to be the Liberals' best fundraising year since political financing was reformed in 2003.

And Liberals believe this is a good sign for their efforts at party rebuilding.

They, the NDP and the other opposition parties need all the help they can get as the per-vote taxpayer subsidy is being gradually phased out by the Harper government. The major parties will continue to receive an ever-decreasing subsidy until 2015.

Interact with The Globe