Generous individual contributions helped propel MP Paul Dewar to his second consecutive victory in the Ottawa Centre riding last fall.
Through individual donations given directly to his campaign, Dewar raised more money than all other candidates combined and roughly $55,000 more than the next leading candidate, Conservative hopeful Brian McGarry, who pulled in $11,165.
According to the candidates’ campaign returns, which are available on the Elections Canada website, Dewar received $66,819 from individual donors in the two months preceding the election.
Liberal candidate Penny Collenette only managed to raise $7,250 from direct contributions, while Jen Hunter of the Green Party raised $3,975 to support her campaign.
Along with the financial support of his party and electoral district association, Dewar was the top fundraiser with a total of $119,908.
Jonathan Malloy, a political science professor at Carleton University, says it’s easier for incumbents to raise money.
Malloy says they have a proven track record and an established list of supporters they can count on, while challengers are basically starting from scratch.
“It’s easier to give money to a winner, and Dewar is certainly a proven winner now,” he says.
Dewar received contributions from 367 individuals, most of them residing in Ottawa. Seventy-six contributions were in excess of $200, while five totalled more than $1,000.
Dewar also received a vote of confidence from city councillor Clive Doucet, who pledged $300.
According to the candidate summaries on the Elections Canada website, McGarry received 62 individual contributions, while Collenette received 28.
Malloy says Collenette’s numbers are symptomatic of larger problems with the Liberal Party as a whole, which has had trouble generating fundraising support from individuals – both at the local and national level.
The Liberal Party has been distracted by leadership campaigns, and is incapable of gaining the wide-spread support that helps more ideological parties like the Conservatives and the NDP, he says.
“It’s hard for the Liberals to get people excited about their moderate message,” Malloy says.
In a telephone interview, Collenette was adamant that fundraising was not a problem for her campaign.
She says the financial summaries on the Elections Canada website do not account for the personal contributions she received during the two years of her nomination leading up to the election, which came through her riding association.
“I was very happy with what I raised,” she says. “I have absolutely no debt and we have a surplus in the riding.”
However, Elections Canada spokesperson Maureen Keenan says riding donations are not considered direct contributions to the candidate, but to the party, which then decides how to distribute the money.
Despite a lack of direct individual contributions during the run-up to the election, the Liberal and Conservative candidates for Ottawa Centre still had hefty budgets to work with through the support of their parties and riding associations.
Both McGarry and Collenette spent more than $86,000 on their election campaigns.
With 40 per cent of the total votes, Dewar managed to secure the riding with only $78,000.
Elections Canada’s regulations regarding public disclosure states that candidates must submit a campaign return within four months of voting day.
These returns must indicate all campaign expenses and the amount of each contribution. They must also include the name and address of any individual who donated more than $200.
Keenan says the returns are posted online as soon as they are received, and from there, Elections Canada conducts its own audit.
With approximately 1,600 candidates in the last federal election, she says the auditing process will take some time.