Small sums make up over 40% of political donations
Contributions under $200 can’t be traced
Since the 2015 election, Canadians have donated nearly $75 million to the five political parties with seats in the House of Commons — but federal law makes it impossible to tell where more than 40 per cent of it came from.
The Canadian Press analyzed Elections Canada financial data on donations to parties between Oct. 20, 2015 — the day after the federal election that vaulted Justin Trudeau’s Liberals into power — and June 30, 2017.
In total, $74,792,986.82 was donated directly to political parties during that time frame.
The Conservatives were responsible for 42.5 per cent of it, or $31.8 million, followed by the Liberals, with 38 per cent or about $28 million. The NDP was a distant third, raising $9.3 million, about 12.5 per cent of the total.
The Green party came in with 6.2 per cent, or $4.6 million, while the Bloc Québécois brought up the rear with $1.1 million, or 1.4 per cent.
Fully 42 cents of every dollar the parties raised — $31.1 million — can’t be traced by donor or by the province or city they live in, thanks to a clause in the Canada Elections Act.
The law only requires parties to publicly disclose the names and addresses of people who donate at least $200 in a single year.
Fully half of what the Bloc and the Greens raised, and 47 per cent of what the NDP brought in, came from donations of less than $200. That group accounted for 43 per cent of all Conservative donations and 32 per cent of what the Liberals raised.
The rules are different when money is raised by a party but on behalf of leadership contestants, however: parties must report all donations directed to leadership candidates and must include the names and addresses of the donors, regardless of whether the donation was $1 or $1,500.
Since the past election, $11.4 million was donated in directed contributions for leadership contestants, mostly for the Conservative contest that wrapped up in May and the NDP race that’s currently underway.
Every cent of it can be traced, right down to the postal code.
For example, 54 per cent of all leadership donations came from Ontario, while just 0.2 per cent came from Prince Edward Island.
By postal code, Elora, Ont., a small town of about 8,000 people 100 kilometres west of Toronto, was the biggest player in the Conservative leadership battle, donating more than $34,000.
Since Elora is former leadership hopeful Michael Chong’s hometown, it is perhaps no surprise he was the biggest beneficiary there, though some of his neighbours showed a preference for six of his opponents.
Liberal spokesman Braeden Caley deflected questions about the differences in the rules for leadership campaigns versus that for party donations.
Caley noted that Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould has introduced legislation that would require all parties to advertise at least five days in advance any fundraiser for a party leader or cabinet minister where tickets are at least $200, and to publicly report the names and addresses of attendees.
The party has already started doing so on its website, and also has a policy to ensure all those fundraisers are held in public spaces and are open to the media, Caley added.
He said the Liberals have challenged the other parties to follow suit.
In a statement Gould said the government is taking “concrete action” to make things even more transparent with Bill C-50. An official from her office speaking on background said the $200 threshold for reporting donor information has been in place since 2000, when it was raised from $100. The official noted former chief electoral officer Marc Mayrand did not recommend the threshold be changed in his post-election report last year.
NDP spokesman Guillaume Francoeur said his party supports the fact that donations less than $200 can be made anonymously.
“The law currently allows individuals to make relatively small donations without having their names appear publicly,” Francoeur said. “We have seen no evidence which would raise concerns with this aspect of the law.”
Some 70 per cent of donations to the NDP in the past four years fall into the under-$200 category.
Green party deputy leader Daniel Green called for a lower threshold for anonymity, but added his party would rather see stricter limits on the size of donations in general.
The Conservatives did not respond to a request for comment.
The Conservatives raised the most money in all four Western provinces, but the Liberals topped the charts in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
WE HAVE SEEN NO EVIDENCE WHICH WOULD RAISE CONCERNS WITH THIS ASPECT OF THE LAW.