Trudeau leading Liberal race financially, pulled in over $1M

O T TAWA • If money talks it’s saying Justin Trudeau has a lock on the federal Liberal leadership while Joyce Murray and Martha Hall Findlay are fighting over who’ll finish second.

The first of four weekly financial reports filed with Elections Canada offer a glimpse of the way the race is shaping up as it heads down the home stretch.

Mr. Trudeau is the only one of the six contenders left in the race whose report is not yet posted on the election watchdog’s website.

But his team has told The Canadian Press it will show Mr. Trudeau has pulled in just over $1-million since launching his campaign last October, with an additional $300,000 still being processed by the party, through which donations must flow to be eligible for a tax receipt.

That’s more than double what the other five contenders combined have raised.

The reports show former Toronto MP Hall Findlay has raised almost $179,000 while Vancouver MP Murray is close behind with $169,000.

However, Ms. Murray has shown the most momentum of the two since the end of last year, when a financial report filed by the party showed Ms. Hall Findlay had raised about $115,000 and Ms. Murray only $57,000.

Moreover, Ms. Murray has tapped into more donors — 1,382 of them, to Ms. Hall Findlay’s 1,023.