Photo: Jeff McIntosh La Presse canadienne L’écart de dons entre les libéraux et les conservateurs se creuse significativement depuis l’arrivée de Pierre Poilievre à la tête du parti, en septembre 2022, montre l’analyse du « Devoir ».
It’s not just in opinion polls that Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are lagging. The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) continues to outpace all parties in donations.
For the second quarter of the year, from April to June, the CPC received more than $9.8 million in donations — $6 million more than the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) received during the same period.
Pierre Poilievre’s party remains well ahead in fundraising, although it is down slightly for the second quarter in a row. The Conservatives have already pocketed more than $20 million in donations since the start of 2024, outpacing the Liberals by $13 million.
Read also
- Interactive | What a Poilievre government could look like ?
- Even purged from the news, Facebook and Instagram attract political dollars
- Poilievre accuses Trudeau of wanting to legalize hard drugs
The analysis carried out by Le Devoir based on the latest financial statements filed with Elections Canada shows that the gap between the Liberals and Conservatives has widened significantly since Pierre Poilievre took over as party leader in September 2022.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000More donations than during the campaign electoral
Since his election as leader, donations to the CPC have reached levels comparable to — and even higher than — what the party received during the 2021 election campaign, a period when contributions are consistently higher for all parties.
The year 2023 was a record year for the CPC, raising over $35 million compared to $15 million for the LPC.
Support for the Conservative Party has also skyrocketed in national polls since the election of their new leader. The Conservatives currently lead the Liberals by about 20 points in most polls, and in every province except Quebec.
Over the past three months, 52,512 people donated to the CCP, compared to 28,523 to the Liberals.
Other parties in drop
The Liberals can nevertheless rejoice in a small improvement since the start of the year: Canadians have given nearly $3.8 million to the Liberal Party between March and June of this year, an increase of 21% compared to the first three months of the year. The Liberal Party is the only party to have seen a slight increase since the last quarter.
Jagmeet Singh’s New Democratic Party (NDP) collected nearly $1.3 million in the second quarter of the year, a decrease of about $55,000 from the previous quarter. The Bloc Québécois came in last, with just over $320,000 received during the same period, or about $21,000 less.
There is about a year left for the parties to fill their coffers before the next federal election, scheduled for October 2025 at the latest.
Justin Trudeau's minority government could fall before that date, however, if the NDP withdraws its support from the support and confidence agreement reached between the two parties.
Byelections will be held this fall, including a crucial one for the Liberals in Verdun-Émard-Lasalle in Montreal. The election is scheduled for September 16, the date Parliament returns to Ottawa. The byelection was necessary following Mr. Lametti’s departure last January.
Justin Trudeau also called a byelection in the riding of Elmwood-Transcona, in Winnipeg’s east end.