Cheveldayoff campaign attracts most donations
A wave of corporate donations totalling almost $150,000 carried Ken Cheveldayoff into a strong position in the race to replace Brad Wall as leader of the Saskatchewan Party and the province’s next premier.
The Saskatoon Willowgrove MLA’s campaign had as of Oct. 31 raised $177,528, of which more than 82 per cent came from corporations, according to the party’s first mandatory campaign finance disclosure.
While the campaign still has two months and two financial disclosures remaining, Cheveldayoff’s ability to attract cash suggests he could be a front-runner at this point in the race, according to a University of Regina political studies professor. However, given that three of the remaining five candidates are within $60,000 of Cheveldayoff’s interim fundraising total, other camps may have reason to make similar claims.
“Fundraising and the capacity to get new members into the party, and bring with them some money, are obviously related to one another, although there are of course lots of situations where they’re not,” Ken Rasmussen said.
“A lot of people are happy to support a candidate with their vote, but not with their money. And we have a long history of this in Saskatchewan, of people packing these kinds of things with family, friends.”
The Sask. Party’s first campaign financial disclosure represents the first release of hard information about where each of the candidates stand in relation to another since Wall’s announcement in early August that he plans to step down.
Cheveldayoff’s total — which also includes $18,185 from individuals who donated more than $250 and $12,378 in private donations of less than $250 — puts him almost $40,000 clear of secondplace Scott Moe, whose campaign attracted $138,366 in donations before Halloween.
Alanna Koch, meanwhile, raised $132,023 while Gord Wyant’s camp reported donations totalling $111,181. Tina Beaudry-Mellor, who has previously acknowledged that her campaign lacks resources, raised $34,424, $15,000 of which came from her husband’s law firm.
The sixth candidate, Rob Clarke, launched his campaign and filed his nomination papers after the disclosure deadline, meaning he will not report his campaign finances until mid-January.
Rasmussen said Cheveldayoff’s ability to attract corporate money — the other campaigns ranged from 10 per cent to 66 per cent in terms of corporate donations as a share of total donations — reflects his deep connections in communities across the province.
At the same time, the political scientist continued, the amount of corporate money in play — $345,331 as of Oct. 31 — should prompt a discussion about how private businesses can influence politics.
“This is always a concern, and this has been raised about Saskatchewan electoral finances recently.”
Rasmussen went on to say he was not surprised by the backing Koch received from veteran Sask. Party operatives such as Garnet Garven and Doug Emsley, whose company made a $3,500 in-kind donation to her campaign. Both served on Wall’s transition team 10 years ago.
Dick Carter, the chair of the new Saskatchewan Health Authority, donated $500 each to Koch and Wyant. Cheveldayoff, Moe and Wyant all received $2,500 each from North Prairie Developments Ltd. and its sister company, Canwest Commercial and Land Corp.