By Canadian Press

Parties rake in millions in donations despite pandemic, padding campaign war chests

Jul 2, 2021 | 10:47 AM

OTTAWA — Federal parties appear to have seen a drop in their fundraising in 2020, a year when the pandemic dented donations of all kinds.

The Conservative return shows that the party pulled in more than $20.6 million in donations from almost 91,000 donors in 2020, down from the over $30.8 million contributed by nearly 124,00 people one year prior.

Party spokesman Cory Hann says the party still ran a surplus of nearly $4.5 million by year-end despite the difficulties COVID-19 presented for fundraising, one year after running a nearly $7-million deficit in the 2019 election year.

The Bloc Québécois brought in nearly $1.6 million in donations from over 10,100 donors last year, slightly down from the $1.8 million given by nearly 12,600 donors a year earlier. 

The party also ran a surplus of almost $107,000 last year, smaller than the $512,000 surplus in 2019, which helped pad the party’s bottom line as it prepares to run a slate of candidates only in Quebec.

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Returns for the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens are not yet available.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2021. 

The Canadian Press