New Brunswick
THE IRVING GROUP: $131,713.86
New Brunswick’s biggest political donor between 2007 and 2015 was — by far — the Irving Group. The family’s businesses, which include operations in the oil and gas industry, shipbuilding, forestry and newspapers, employ one in 12 people in the province and account for more than half of New Brunswick’s exports. Most of their political support went to the Progressive Conservatives ($79,815.93) and the Liberals ($44,897.93).
TORONTO DOMINION BANK: $83,754.40
The bank, which won $8.9 million in government funding last year to open a business services centre in Moncton, was the second biggest donor in New Brunswick: it gave $45,754.40 to the Progressive Conservatives and $38,000 to the Liberals.
DEBLY COMPANIES: $55,158.86
To avoid exceeding the province’s $6,000 donation limit, the PCs returned $10,800 in contributions from Debly Resources, Debly Enterprises and a numbered company called 632504 NB Ltd in 2014. All three share the same headquarters, the same director, Majid Debly, and do significant work for the government. Debly Enterprises alone billed New Brunswick $13.4 million for road construction and other costs between 2010 and 2014. Together, the three companies made 41 donations in this database: $47,277.70 to the PCs, $7,681.16 to the Liberals and $200 to the NDP.