Tag: Money and Politics

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Alberta Politics

UCP probably, maybe narrowly back on top in political party fundraising in 2022 Q1. We’ll have to take their word for it.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, thumbing his nose at Albertans with a Calgary Stampede Victory pennant in his office during a Facebook Live session.

The United Conservative Party is probably, maybe leading the pack in political party fundraising for the first time since 2020. But we’ll just have to take their word for it.

The political party fundraising results from the first financial quarter of 2022 were released today, but because of changes the UCP made to political finance laws in 2021, money raised by constituency associations are no longer included in the quarterly disclosures.

The UCP claims the totals (see below) don’t include more than $375,000 raised by constituency associations. This is probably true, but we won’t actually know until Elections Alberta releases its next annual report sometime in early 2023.

So instead of having the kind of transparency that showed Albertans what political parties AND constituency associations actually raised in each quarter, we are now stuck comparing apples and oranges.

The funny thing is that if the UCP hadn’t made the disclosure laws less transparent, they would probably be getting positive headlines instead of having to spin a days worth of “but wait!” tweets.

Unlike the UCP and most other parties, the Alberta NDP has long disclosed all its fund-raising centrally, so all of the NDP’s fundraising will still be reported quarterly.

Here are the political party fundraising results for the first quarter of 2022 released by Elections Alberta today:

NDP – $1,037,511.32
UCP – $887,974.49
Pro-Life Political Association – $67,564.93
Alberta Party – $29,006.45
Liberal – $19,667
Wildrose Independence – $14,205
Green Party – $1,920
Independence Party – $390
Alberta Advantage Party – $310

The Communist Party, Reform Party, and Buffalo Party reported no funds raised int he first three months of 2022.

The UCP fundraising has improved, but it is nowhere near as dominant it was in its heydays before 2020, when Rachel Notley‘s NDP began a near two-year streak of out-fundraising the governing conservative party.

It is something somewhat positive that Jason Kenney can point to as UCP members vote to decide his fate in the leadership review (but he might have to explain why he made political fundraising less transparent), but as we get closer to the next election it’s looking more like a competitive fundraising race between the NDP and UCP.

Meanwhile, Elections Alberta 2021 annual report showed the NDP with $5,598,136.01 and the UCP with $1,141,647.39 in the bank at the end of last year.

I’m sure I might have more thoughts to share about this as I pour through the disclosure reports this week, so stay tuned!

(And, one more time, feel free to sign up for the Daveberta Substack.)

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Alberta Politics

Notley’s NDP crushes Kenney’s UCP in fundraising… again.

Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley (source: Facebook)
Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley in 2019 (source: Facebook)

The Alberta NDP raised more cash than the United Conservative Party in the final quarter of 2021, according to financial documents released today by Elections Alberta.

According to the returns, the NDP raised $2,090,873.53 and the UCP raised $1,200,823.71 between October 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021.

This marks the fifth consecutive quarter that Rachel Notley’s NDP have out-fundraised Jason Kenney‘s UCP.

The NDP also crushed the UCP in annual fundraising in 2021, with Notley’s party raising a whopping $6,151,163.93 compared to $3,796,905.23 for Kenney’s party. This is the largest total amount that the NDP has raised in a year in Alberta.

The lacklustre fundraising returns for the governing UCP will likely be something that Kenney’s opponents hone in on as the party’s approaches its April 9 leadership review meeting in Red Deer.

The Pro-Life Political Association, run by anti-abortion activists who took over and renamed the Social Credit Party in 2016, placed third in fundraising for the second quarter in a row. The party is being used as a vehicle for anti-abortion political activism which can legally issue tax-receipts for donations. It is unclear whether the party will actually run candidates in the next provincial election.

The Alberta Party, now led by former City of Brooks Mayor Barry Morishita, saw a significant increase in their fundraising compared to previous quarters last year.

Despite doing well in most polls over the past year and benefiting from a handful of member defections from the UCP, the separatist Wildrose Independence Party had an unimpressive fundraising year. The party placed fifth in fundraising in 2021. Party leader Paul Hinman, a former Wildrose MLA, is running in soon to be called by-election in Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche.

Here is what all of Alberta’s registered political parties raised in the fourth quarter of 2021:

Alberta NDP: $2,090,873.53
United Conservative Party: $1,200,823.71
Pro-Life Political Association: $121,503.00
Alberta Party: $121,108.54
Wildrose Independence: $68,114.29
Alberta Liberal Party: $43,105.32
Green Party: $6,889.50
Independence Party of Alberta: $3,319.00
Communist Party: $100.00

The Alberta Advantage Party and the Reform Party did not report any funds raised in this quarter.

Here are the total annual fundraising totals for 2021:

Alberta NDP: $6,151,163.93
United Conservative Party: $3,796,905.23
Pro-Life Political Association: $338,342.92
Alberta Party: $239,260.46
Wildrose Independence: $184,190.74
Alberta Liberal Party: $114,398.00
Green Party: $15,232.50
Independence Party of Alberta: $7,633.25
Alberta Advantage Party: $1,190.00
Communist Party: $300.00
Reform Party: $0

More soon…

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Alberta Politics

NDP leads in fundraising, again, but UCP bounces back after weak returns in early 2021

The Alberta NDP raised more cash than the United Conservative Party in the third quarter of 2021, according to financial documents released today by Elections Alberta.

According to the returns, the NDP raised $1,367,080 and the UCP raised $1,235,482 between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2021.

While these results are better for the UCP than the previous quarters, this marks the fourth quarter in a row that Rachel Notley’s NDP have out-fundraised Jason Kenney‘s UCP. The NDP raised twice as much money as the UCP in the final quarter of 2020 and the first and second quarters of 2021.

Alberta NDP and United Conservative Party fundraising from 2019 Q4 to 2021 Q3.
Alberta NDP and United Conservative Party fundraising from 2019 Q4 to 2021 Q3.

The NDP have raised a stunning $4,060,290 since Jan. 1, 2021, dominating the governing UCP, which is trailing with $2,596,202 raised since the beginning of the year. It is pretty clear that the weak overall fundraising returns from the UCP have a result of Kenney’s plummeting personal approval ratings and the party’s dropping support in the polls.

The UCP’s bump in donations over the summer are likely a result of the party’s fundraising efforts in between the day when Kenney declared “Alberta open for the summer and open for good” and the start of the deadly fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the disclosures, $183,700 of the UCP’s total cash raised in the third quarter was from Agriculture and Forestry Minister Devin Dreeshen‘s Innisfail-Sylvan Lake constituency association, likely generated at the annual horse derby fundraising event (Dreeshen has found himself at the centre of a sexual harassment and intoxication scandal). And $110,947 of the UCP’s total fundraising for the past quarter was raised by MLA Dan Williams constituency association in Peace River, likely at an August “town hall” fundraiser that featured Kenney and a number of cabinet ministers.

The Pro-Life Political Association, birthed from a hostile takeover of the moribund Social Credit Party in 2016, raised a surprising $92,560 in the third quarter. The party, which ran only one candidate in the 2019 election, is using the party as a vehicle for anti-abortion political activism that can legally issue tax-receipts for donations. It is unclear whether the party will move more aggressively into electoral politics in the 2023 election.

Here is what all of Alberta’s registered political parties raised in the third quarter of 2021:

  • Alberta NDP: $1,367,080.50
  • United Conservative Party: $1,235,482.45
  • Pro-Life Political Association: $92,560.92
  • Wildrose Independence: $53,839.92
  • Alberta Party: $31,617.41
  • Alberta Liberal Party: $13,930.54
  • Independence Party of Alberta: $1,740.00 
  • Green Party: $1,314.00
  • Alberta Advantage Party: $300.00

The Communist Party and Reform Party did not report any funds raised in this quarter.

NDP nominate Hoffman and Boporai

Parmeet Singh Boporai

The NDP have nominated two more candidates ahead of the expected 2023 provincial election. Sarah Hoffman was nominated in Edmonton-Glenora on Oct. 27 and Parmeet Singh Boparai in Calgary-Falconridge on Oct. 29.

Hoffman is the NDP deputy leader and was first elected as an MLA in 2015 after serving two terms on the Edmonton Public School Board.

Boparai finished a close second to UCP candidate Devinder Toor – losing by 96 votes in 2019 in the closest race of the provincial election.

The NDP have scheduled nomination meetings in Calgary-Currie on Nov. 13, and Calgary-Buffalo on Nov. 15 and Lethbridge-East on Nov. 21.

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Alberta Politics

NDP clobbers UCP in first quarter fundraising. Notley’s party raised twice as much cash as Kenney’s UCP in the first three months of 2021

Rachel Notley and Danielle Larivee during the 2019 election.
Rachel Notley and Danielle Larivee during the 2019 election.

The Alberta NDP raised twice as much money as the United Conservative Party in the first quarter of 2021, according to financial documents released today by Elections Alberta.

This marks the third quarter in the last year that Rachel Notley’s NDP have out-fundraised the governing UCP. Not only have Albertans been showing their unhappiness with Jason Kenney’s UCP in the polls, they are clearly showing it by voting with their pocketbooks and credit cards.

Here is what Alberta’s political parties raised during the first quarter of 2021:

  • NDP: $1,186,245
  • UCP: $591,597
  • Alberta Party: $48,194
  • Wildrose Independence Party: $36,883
  • Pro-Life Political Association: $33,261
  • Alberta Liberal Party: $31,798
  • Green Party: $5,010.00
  • Independence Party: $1,559.25

Notley’s NDP are on a roll, leading in the polls and continuing to dominate in fundraising. Despite losing government two years ago, the NDP appear to have solidified a larger base of donors who contribute donations in smaller amounts. Sixty-eight per cent of individual donations received by the NDP in the first quarter were in denominations of less than $250, compared to 39 per cent for the UCP.

At first glance, it would appear as though many of the UCP’s wealthier donors, who in previous years contributed a maximum annual donation in the first quarter, have not yet donated this year. This could be a big indication with a growing unhappiness in the direction of the UCP and Kenney’s leadership over the course of the past year.

The Pro-Life Political Association, which was known as the Social Credit Party before it was taken over by anti-abortion activists in 2016, went from raising nothing for the past few quarters to raising more than $33,261 in the last three months. It is unclear why the effectively dormant party that ran only one candidate in the last election and whose previous leader resigned to become a monk is now active.

The Alberta Advantage Party, Communist Party and the Reform Party raised no funds during this period.

The maximum annual donation to political parties was increased to $4,243 from $4.000 as of January 1, 2020.

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Alberta Politics

Notley’s NDP raised more cash than Kenney’s UCP in the final months of 2020

The Alberta NDP raised more money from individual Albertans than the United Conservative Party in the final quarter of 2020, according to financial documents released today by Elections Alberta.

This marks the second time in the last year that the opposition NDP have out-fundraised the governing UCP, suggesting Albertans are voting with their pocketbooks and credit cards.

Here is what Alberta’s political parties raised during the fourth quarter of 2020:

  • NDP $2,322,490.38
  • UCP $1,921,813.21
  • Alberta Party $50,738.66
  • Wildrose Independence Party $45,863.49
  • Liberal Party $44,746.87
  • Green Party $17,847.00
  • Alberta Advantage Party – $4,055.00
  • Independence Party – $2,990.40
  • Communist Party – $100.00

This marks the first time since the UCP was created that the NDP have fundraised more money over the course of a year. According to the Elections Alberta disclosures, the NDP raised $5,061,979.02 in 2020 with the UCP narrowly behind at $5,046,322.52.

The Alberta Party, Wildrose Independence Party, Liberal Party and Green Party also saw increases in their quarterly fundraising, though they remain significantly behind the two major parties.

The maximum annual donation to political parties was increased to $4,243 from $4.000 as of January 1, 2020.

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Alberta Politics

Small money can sometimes go a long way in Edmonton’s municipal elections

Jon Dziadyk Edmonton City Council
Jon Dziadyk Edmonton City Council

Photo: Jon Dziadyk spent $9,950.00 on his campaign and unseated a two-term city councillor who spent $119,937.69.

Released this week, the financial disclosures from Edmonton’s municipal elections detail how much each mayoral and councillor candidate raised and expensed during the October 2017 campaign.

The most notable race in terms of money spent was north Edmonton’s Ward 3, where a campaign budget of $119,937.69 could not save two-term councillor Dave Loken from defeat. Loken placed second to Jon Dziadyk, whose campaign only expensed $9,950.00, and he finished narrowly ahead of third place candidate Karen Principe, whose campaign expensed $4,941.54.

Aside from Dziadyk, only two other winning candidates did not to spend the most money in their races. In Ward 6, councillor Scott McKeen’s expenses of $68,833.84 were overshadowed by the $85,469.35 expensed by second place challenger Bill Knight. And in Ward 4, Aaron Paquette’s $58,018.93 campaign was narrowly outspent by second place finisher Rocco Caterina, whose campaign expensed $59,998.97.

While money is still necessary to run a political campaign, as the race in Ward 3 demonstrated, it is sometimes not a factor in determining how voters will act when they reach their voting station.

Below is the breakdown of the revenue and expenses of the for the top three mayoral candidates by votes.

Edmonton Mayoral Election 2013, Financial Disclosure
Candidate Total Revenue Total Expenses Surplus/(Deficit)
Don Iveson $369,775.67 $366.477.52 $30,298.15
Don Koziak $2,500.00 $2,500.00 $0
Steven Shewchuk $2,734.58 $2,734.58 $0

Fourth place mayoral candidate Fahad Mughal claimed revenue and expenses of $22,793.00, and a number of other mayor candidates self-financed their campaigns. None came close to raising or spending the amount that Iveson’s campaign did.

Here are the financial breakdowns submitted from elected city council candidates competing in Edmonton’s 12 wards.

Edmonton City Council Election 2013, Financial Disclosure
Candidate Total Revenue Total Expenses Surplus/(Deficit)
Andrew Knack $17,772.95 $17.772.95 $0
Bev Esslinger $63,141.40 $53,807.19 $9,334.21
Jon Dziadyk $17,040.00 $9,950.00 $7,120.00
Aaron Paquette $58,018.93 $56,521.04 $1,497.89
Sarah Hamilton $95,592.00 $84,409.21 $11,182.79
Scott McKeen $77,401.63 $68,833.84 $8,657.79
Tony Caterina $67,873.00 $67,173.30 $698.70
Ben Henderson $61,789.83 $39,930.58 $21,859.25
Tim Cartmell $95,177.54 $94,276.44 $857.50
Michael Walters $96,119.06 $96,018.68 $100.38
Mike Nickel $110,086.17 $108,891.15 $1,195.02
Moe Banga $89,241.00 $85,672.12 $3,568.88

According to the Local Authorities Elections Act, donations to municipal election candidates are limited to a maximum of $5,000 for individuals, corporations and trade unions during an election year.

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Alberta Politics

Alberta NDP tops fundraising for 3rd quarter in a row, UCP expected to catch up in 4th quarter

Elections Alberta released the financial disclosures showing the results of political party fundraising in the third quarter of 2017.

Here are my quick thoughts on the latest fundraising numbers:

  • The NDP continue to demonstrate an impressive ability to raise money in Alberta. The NDP has raised the most of any party in the first three quarters of 2017.
  • This is the United Conservative Party’s first-ever quarter of fundraising, and I expect the party will raise significantly larger amounts in the next quarter when it has a permanent leader and when annual contribution limits reset before the first quarter of 2018.
  • This was likely the final quarter that the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties will report any significant fundraising amounts. Both parties are now controlled by the board of directors of the UCP. Funds donated to the two parties in the third quarter cannot be transferred to the UCP or any other party.
  • The Alberta Party is attempting to position itself as a centrist alternative to the NDP and UCP, but it will not be much of a political force going into the 2019 election if it party cannot start raising significantly more funds than it has in the first three quarters of 2017. I would not be surprised if these embarrassingly low fundraising returns raise questions inside the party about the future of Greg Clark‘s leadership. I expect the influence of the Alberta Together group and the influx of former PC Party officials into the Alberta Party will force the issue at the party’s annual general meeting on November 18, 2017.
  • A number of third-party advertisers (frequently referred to by the media as Political Action Committees) raised significant amounts of funds in the third quarter. I hope to delve a little deeper in this issue in a future post.
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Alberta Politics

NDP tops political fundraising in Alberta for second quarter in a row

Elections Alberta released the financial disclosures showing the results of political party fundraising in the second quarter of 2017.

Combined party and constituency fundraising results show the governing New Democratic Party in the lead in for the second consecutive quarter of 2017, having fundraised $553,733 between April 1, 2017 and June 30, 2017, a jump from $373,060 raised by the NDP in the first quarter of 2017.

The Wildrose Party raised $511,704, up from $345,125 in the first quarter, and the Progressive Conservatives raised $86,818, a steep drop from the $226,572 raised in the first four months of 2017. The the Alberta Party raised only $38,124.51 and the Liberal Party raised $33,845.93 in the same period.

The NDP have raised a combined total of $926,793 in the first two quarter of 2017, while the Wildrose raised $852,689 and the PCs raised $313,791.

This is the second fundraising quarter to fall under new political finance laws introduced by Democratic Renewal Minister Christina Gray in 2016, which lowered the maximum annual donation limits from $15,000 to $4,000. This followed reforms introduced by the NDP in 2015 that banned corporate and union donations to political parties and candidates.

Here is a quick look at the top donors for each of the five main political parties in Alberta in the second quarter of 2017:

Alberta NDP
Kathleen Feehan – $4,000
Allan Kettles – $4,000
Don Smith – $4,000
Tom Boyce – $2,718
Ericka Simonelli – $2,650
Anne McGrath – $2,407

Wildrose Party
Cheryl Wilei – $4,500
Paul Doucette – $4,000
Arlene Goodchild – $4,000
Sterling Goodchild – $4,000
Tasker Goodchild – $4,000
George Janzen – $4,000
Len McCullah – $4,000
Jennifer Swertz – $4,000

PC Party
John Peter – $4,000
Stanley Milner – $4,000
Heather Shaw – $4,000
Deborah Wall – $4,000
Jeff Boyce – $1,500
Wayne Foo – $1,500

Alberta Party
Rhondda Siebens – $4,000
Sharon Gutrath-Siebens – $3,000
Troy Wason – $1,700
Dale Huntingford – $1,500
Patricia Cochrane – $1,050

Liberal Party
Dan McLennan – $2,100
Grant Dunlop – $1,800
Bill Sevcik – $1,000
Raj Sherman – $1,000
Clifford Faden – $650
David Swann – $600
Nick Taylor – $600

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First quarter political party fundraising puts NDP in the lead

Elections Alberta released the financial disclosures showing the results of political party fundraising in the first quarter of 2017.

Combined party and constituency fundraising results show the governing New Democratic Party in the lead in early 2017, having fundraised $373,060.23 between January 1 and March 31, 2017. The Wildrose Party raised $345,125.06 and the Progressive Conservatives raised $226,572.21 in the same period. The Liberal Party raised $47,959.83 and the Alberta Party raised only $14,070.49.

These totals are considerably less than what was raised by the governing and official opposition parties in the fourth quarter of 2016, when the NDP raised $1,985,272.00 and the Wildrose raised $2,063,737.63. Similar to previous years, political fundraising in the first quarter of the year is typically lower than the previous year’s final quarter.

Both the NDP and Wildrose Party fundraised less in this quarter than in the first quarter of 2016, when the NDP raised $398,843.71 and Wildrose raised $448,912.71. The PCs raised more than twice in this quarter than the $105,436.47 the party raised in the first quarter of 2016.

This is the first fundraising quarter to fall under new political finance laws introduced by Democratic Renewal Minister Christina Gray in 2016, which lowered the maximum annual donation limits from $15,000 to $4,000. This followed reforms introduced by the NDP in 2015 that banned corporate and union donations to political parties and candidates.

Here is a quick look at the top donors for each of the five main political parties in Alberta in the first quarter of 2017:

Alberta NDP
Jamie Kleinsteuber – $2,612.50
Amanda Nielsen – $2,287.50
David Mayhood – $2,015
Thomas Dang – $1,976
Brian Malkinson – $1,702.50
Roari Richardson – $1,570

Wildrose
Harvey Aarbo – $4,000
Gordon Elliott – $4,000
Gudrun Schulze Ebbinghoff – $4,000
Robert Such – $4,000
Larry Thompson – $4,000

Progressive Conservative
Maria Binnion – $4,000
John Neudorf – $4,000
Constance Nolin – $4,000
Dennis Nolin – $4,000
Prem Singhmar – $4,000

Liberal Party
Ebrahim Karbani – $4,000
Zulqurnain Abbas – $3,500
Tariq Hussain – $3,300
Israr Ullah – $3,300
Fazal Rehman – $3,000
Saifuddin Syed – $3,000

Alberta Party
James Tererenko – $820.94
Patrick Baillie – $500
Aaron Blair – $500
Greg Clark – $500
Brad Grundy – $500
Brian Mahoney – $500

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Alberta Politics

Powerful NDP fundraising machine, Kenney implodes the Tories, Liberals launch leadership campaign

A rally held in the Calgary-Varisty constituency for NDP leader Rachel Notley attracted hundreds of Calgarians on May 2, 2015.
Rachel Notley's NDP dominated in political fundraising in Alberta in 2016.

The Alberta New Democratic Party raised more than the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties combined in the final quarter of 2016 and more than any other party over the entire year, according to financial disclosures published by Elections Alberta.

The NDP finished their fourth quarter fundraising drive with $798,165, compared to $511,667 for the Wildrose Party, $218,792 for the PCs, $85,930 for the Liberals and $32,612 for the Alberta Party.

This was the second consecutive quarter where the NDP raised more than the opposition Wildrose. Over the course of 2016, the NDP raised $1,985,271 in donations from individual Albertans, more than then $1,758,377 raised by the Wildrose Party.

THE INCREDIBLE IMPLODING TORIES

Alan Hallman
Alan Hallman

Despite lawsuits, fines, complaints by former MLAs, and having a campaign strategist kicked out of the party, Jason Kenney’s single-focused campaign to dissolve the PC Party and merge it with the Wildrose Party appears to be on track to win a landslide at the party’s delegate convention on March 18.

And despite claims that the party remains viable, and that its constituency associations hold more than $1.7 million in the bank, none of the three candidates claiming to support the “renewal” of the current party appear to be contenders.

Jason Kenney
Jason Kenney

The latest explosion in the PC Party leadership race occurred over the weekend as the party executive voted to suspend the membership of long-time organizer Alan Hallman over an inappropriate tweet. Hallman, who had announced plans to sue Stephen Carter late last year, was serving a strategist, or “field organizer,” for Kenney’s campaign.

In a bombshell rebuke to the party’s elected executive, interim party leader Ric McIver publicly defended Hallman and some members of the party’s youth wing publicly appointed him as their honorary chairman the day after he was suspended. At least three members of the youth wing executive – Sierra Garner, Kyle Hoyda and Natalie Warren – tweeted they were not informed of the decision to give Hallman the honorary chairmanship before it was announced (I am told this is also a violation of the PC Party’s rules, as Hallman is no longer a party member).

It is unclear whether the blowback from McIver and Kenney’s supporters in the youth wing will convince the party executive to rescind the suspension order.

Ric McIver
Ric McIver

Less than two years after being reduced to third place in the last provincial election, the party that led Alberta for almost forty-four uninterrupted years feels like a shell of its once mighty self. Once Kenney wins the leadership, there might not be anything left to merge with the Wildrose Party. Maybe that was the plan?

LIBERALS LOOKING FOR A NEW LEADER

Karen Sevcik
Karen Sevcik

The Alberta Liberals launched their leadership race over the weekend.

As AlbertaPolitics.ca blogger David Climenhaga notes, potential candidates to replace interim leader David Swann include include outgoing St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse, former Calgary broadcaster Nirmala Naidoo, and Calgary lawyer David Khan.

“There’s an opportunity right now in the middle of that political spectrum for a kind of common sense, pragmatic solution to some of the challenges we’re facing right now,” party President Karen Sevcik told CBC Edmonton. “We think there’s some room, there’s opportunity, there’s change, and when there’s change, there’s opportunity.”

The party will hold leadership debates in Calgary on April 8 and Edmonton on May 6. Party members will announce its new leader on June 4, 2017.

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Alberta NDP raised more money than the Wildrose Party in Q3 of 2016

NDP leader Rachel Notley speaks to a crowd of more than 2,000 Albertans at a May 4 election rally in Edmonton.
NDP leader Rachel Notley rallies a crowd of more than 2,000 Albertans at a May 3, 2015 election rally in Edmonton.

Elections Alberta has released the results of political party fundraising from the third quarter of 2016 and it shows that the Alberta NDP raised more money than the Wildrose Party for the first time since the second quarter of 2015. This marks the second best fundraising quarter for Rachel Notley‘s NDP since the party was elected to government in May 2015.

2016 Third Quarter Fundraising from July 1, 2016 to September 30, 2016
Alberta Liberals: $39,187.98
Alberta NDP: $425,437.9
Alberta Party: $15,511.5
Green Party: $2,127.5
PC Party: $48,209.16
Wildrose Party: $330,666.45

The results for the Wildrose Party represent a significant drop in fundraising for the official opposition party. This is the first time since the third quarter of 2015 that the Wildrose Party has raised less than $400,000 in a quarter.

With Wildrose supporter Jason Kenney a contender for the Progressive Conservative Party leadership, it will be interesting to see whether traditional Wildrose donors have decided to shift their financial support.

And in the midst of a leadership race, the PC Party increased their fundraising income to $48,209.16, up from $27,376 in the second quarter of 2016. The PCs have struggled to raise funds since the NDP banned corporate donations to political parties in 2015.

Here is a breakdown of political party fundraising in Alberta in the first three quarters of 2016:alberta-political-party-fundraising-2016

 

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Spending limits for election candidates? Yes, Please.

NDP MLA Graham Sucha (left) with MLAs Joe Ceci, Shannon Phillips and Kathleen Ganley.
NDP MLA Graham Sucha (left) with MLAs Joe Ceci, Shannon Phillips and Kathleen Ganley.

Calgary-Shaw NDP MLA Graham Sucha is proposing there be a limit to how much money provincial candidates and parties can spend on election campaigns.

At a recent meeting of the Special Select Ethics and Accountability Committee, Mr. Sucha proposed local candidate campaign spending be limited to $40,000 for most constituencies and $50,000 for larger northern constituencies and provincial campaigns limited to $1.6 million per party. There are currently no spending limits in Alberta and our province is currently the only province in Canada without spending limits.

Alberta voters swept out cash-flush Progressive Conservative candidates in favour of the cash-strapped New Democrats in 2015, but it has generally been the case in Alberta elections that the richest campaigns win on election day. The absence of spending limits has allowed PC candidates to wildly outspend their opposition during that party’s 44 years as government from 1971 to 2015.

In the 2015 election, a handful of PC candidates spent incredibly large sums of money on local campaigns – Edmonton-Whitemud candidate Stephen Mandel‘s campaign spent $132,991 and ended the campaign with a $135,974 surplus. Lowering the spending limits would prevent parties from using these large funds held in trust following the last election in that constituency in the next election (I would expect they would be transferred to other targeted constituencies).

Federal candidates in Alberta are limited to spending between $200,000 and $270,000 depending on the riding they are running for election in. As provincial constituencies in Alberta are considerably smaller than federal ridings, it is expected that any limits would be lower.

Back in February I proposed ten ways that the election process in Alberta could be improved, and spending limits was my third recommendation. While I do believe the spending limits Mr. Sucha has proposed may be too low, especially for the provincial parties, I do believe he is on the right track. There should be spending limits in Alberta elections.

The committee also debated a motion introduced by Edmonton-Decore NDP MLA Chris Nielsen and amended by Bonnyville-Cold Lake Wildrose MLA Scott Cyr that would lower financial contribution limits to $4,000 during election periods and $2,300 outside election periods. Albertans can currently donate $30,000 to political parties during election and by-election periods and $15,000 outside election and by-election periods.

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Alberta Politics

What the 2nd quarter fundraising results mean for Alberta’s political parties

Elections Alberta released the results of this year’s second quarter of fundraising for provincial political parties this week. Following the release of the disclosures I took a closer look at last quarter’s results and what they could mean for the parties.

Alberta Political Party fundraising in 2015 and the first two quarters of 2016.
Alberta Political Party fundraising in 2015 and the first two quarters of 2016. (Click for a larger image)

New Democratic Party

The Alberta NDP raised ten percent less than they did in the first quarter of 2016, which marks the third best full quarter fundraising results since the party formed government in May 2015. The NDP have never led party fundraising but they appear to have developed a healthy and significant base of individual donors. Note: The NDP do not register donations to individual constituency associations, so all funds raised are disclosed through the central party.

Wildrose Party

The Wildrose Party maintained its fundraising lead over the NDP by raising the most funds of any party the second quarter. This is a good sign for leader Brian Jean, who’s position as leader of Alberta’s conservatives is being challenged by federal Conservative Member of Parliament Jason Kenney through a hostile take-over bid of the PC Party. Not counted in the chart above is the funds raised by constituency associations in the second quarter, including Highwood which raised $17,545, Strathmore-Brooks which raised $8,350 and Calgary-Foothills which raised $8,100.

Of note:

  • Drumheller-Stettler Wildrose MLA Rick Strankman and his wife Diane Strankman donated $1,500 to the Vermilion-Lloydminster Wildrose Association, that constituency association’s largest donors in the second quarter. The constituency is represented in the Legislative Assembly by PC MLA Richard Starke.
  • Gary Bikman, an MLA who crossed the floor from the Wildrose to the PCs in December 2014, donated $500 to the Wildrose association in Cardston-Taber-Warner. He represented the constituency from 2012 to 2015 and was defeated in his bid to become the PC candidate in 2015.

Progressive Conservative Party

Long gone are the days of secret trust funds and overflowing campaign war-chests. This was a dismal second quarter for the former governing Progressive Conservative Party, which raised only $27,376. This was the party’s second worst quarterly fundraising result in recent memory, which is not a good sign as the PCs are set to begin a leadership race on October 1, 2016. But the poor showing by the central party is somewhat deceiving as some local PC constituency associations raised a significant amount of funds in the second quarter: $11,090 in Calgary-Hays, $10,166 in Vermilion-Lloydminster, $10,100 in Calgary-West, $9,386 in Calgary-Northern Hills and $8,277 in Grande Prairie-Wapiti.

Liberal Party

For the Alberta Liberals, the good news is they increased the quarterly fundraising by 97 percent, the bad news is that they only raised $57,561.04, which is less than their highest quarter last year (they raised more than $110,000 in the first quarter of 2015). Worth noting is a fundraising reception the Liberals are holding on July 21 at the Mayfair Golf Club that will be hosted by Marc de La Bruyere, chairperson of MacLab Enterprises and a well-connected businessman (he also donated $5,000 to the PC Party during the 2015 election).

Alberta Party

After the election of their first elected MLA in 2015, the Alberta Party appears to still be struggling to develop a sustainable base of donors. Unlike the other parties, the newish party is without an already established fundraising network, which takes significant time and resources to develop.

Here is a list of the top donors for each of the five parties, including donations to constituency associations, in the first two quarters of 2016:

New Democratic Party
Harinder Rai: $15,000
Pavan Kumar Elapavuluri: $5,000
Tim Foster: $5,000
Jamie Kleinsteuber: $3,653.75
Jason Rockwell: $3,407.50
Trevor Horne: $3,051.25
Darshan Brar: $3,000
David Eggen: $2,773.75
Mary Williams: $2,730
Alayne Sinclair: $2,643.75

Wildrose Party
Arnell Gordon: $29,000
Tom Goodchild: $15,000
Maurice Swertz: $15,000
Arlene Goodchild: $7,000
Robert Such: $6,050.00
Iris Kirschner: $7,587.50
James Brown: $5,000
Ryan Crawford: $5,000
Alexander Soutzo: $5,000
Frances Jean: $3,962.33

Progressive Conservative Party
Marcel Van Hecke: $15,957.50
Dave Bissett: $15,000
Scott Burns: $15,000
Stanley Milner: $15,000
Bradley Shaw: $15,000
Celine Belanger: $5,000
Ric McIver: $2,940
Chris Warren: $1,020
Elizabeth Henuset: $1,000
Franklin Kernick: $1,000

Liberal Party
Grant Dunlop: $5,600
Karen Sevcik: $5,300
Ian Cartwright: $3,306
Peter Poole: $3,000
Raj Sherman: $2,000
Dan MacLennan: $1,520
Dan Hays: $1,500
Rowland Nichol: $1,500
Catherine Ryan: $1,260
David Swann: $1,000

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Alberta Politics

Tonight ends the second quarter of political fundraising in Alberta

On the final night of second quarter fundraising period for Alberta’s political parties, I thought it would be useful to take a look back at the past year in political party fundraising. There has been a seismic shift in our politics in this province since last year when the Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the general election and Albertans elected their first new government in 44 years.

Immediately after their election, the New Democratic Party government implemented one of their key election promises to ban corporations and unions from donating money to political parties. This change had a significant immediate impact on the PC Party, which had relied heavily on large donations from corporations to sustain its operations and fill its large campaign war-chest. The shock of the election loss and severing of its access to corporate donors led the PC Party to raise only $15,575.50 in the third quarter of 2015, it’s lowest fundraising period in decades.

The PC Party appeared to have somewhat recovered by the fourth quarter of 2015, when it raised $221,959.50.

Alberta Political Party Fundraising 2015 2016
Alberta Political Party fundraising total in 2015 and 2016. These numbers only include funds raised by political parties, not candidates or constituency associations. (Click the image to enlarge)

The NDP and Wildrose Party faired better and adapted much quicker to the changes due to their already substantial base of individual donors. Both parties rely heavily on individual donors contributing amounts under the $250 reporting threshold.

All the major political parties have been soliciting donations in advance of tonight’s deadline. The NDP and Wildrose Party in particular have been flooding their supporters and past donors inboxes with email appeals for donations over the past week.

Here is a sample of what has hit my inbox over the past few weeks:

“Help us defeat the NDP in Q2!” was the subject line of one email from Wildrose executive director Jeremy Nixon on June 24, 2016.

“We’re publicly measured against our opponents, and we’ve got just five days to match the Wildrose dollar for dollar.” was the lede of one email from NDP Provincial Secretary Roari Richardson on June 25, 2016.

“The NDP are now charging you $5.1 million to advertise their carbon tax plan that is putting 15,000 jobs at risk and taking $1,000 a year out of the typical Alberta household.” was the start of one appeal from Wildrose environment critic Todd Loewen on June 21, 2016. (The Wildrose Party paid Ezra Levant‘s Rebel Media to send this letter to its list of supporters).

“It’s 2016 – yet the opposition seems to be stuck in the stone age. Countries around the world are working to address climate change. Yet Wildrose leaders continue to deny basic science.” was the lede of an email from NDP Deputy Premier Sarah Hoffman on June 28, 2016.

“We need to send a strong message to the NDP, and to all Albertans, that Wildrose is the only party ready to govern in 2019.” wrote Wildrose House Leader Nathan Cooper on June 30, 2016.

“We ended 44 years of Conservative rule, reversed devastating cuts to education. We’re leading Alberta’s future with our forward-thinking Climate Leadership Plan. We can’t go back to the days of tax giveaways for the wealthiest and less support for hard working families.” was the end of an email appeal from Premier Rachel Notley on June 30, 2016.

The results of the second quarter fundraising will be released in July 2016.

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Alberta Politics

Alberta Political Party Fundraising from 2004 to 2015

I was browsing through Elections Alberta Financial Disclosures earlier this week and updated some old charts I created in April 2015, mere days before last year’s election was called. The charts below track political party fundraising over the past eleven years, showing the ups and downs of the different parties.

Last year marked many firsts in Alberta politics, but in relation to fundraising it was the first year that political parties were banned from accepting donations from corporations and unions. This change was the made in the first law passed by the the New Democratic Party government.

Not surprisingly, the NDP had its most successful fundraising year in 2015, raising nearly $3 million over the course of the entire year. Despite the floor crossings that crippled the party in late 2014, the Wildrose Party bounced back with healthy fundraising for 2015.

The Progressive Conservatives, Alberta’s natural governing party from 1971 to 2015, broke records in fundraising and at the polls last year (in very different ways).

The Liberal Party has struggled with fundraising over the past eight years, starting from its decline after the 2008 election. And the Alberta Party, which elected its first MLA in 2015, is still dwarfed by the fundraising of the other parties.

Alberta NDP Annual Donations daveberta

Wildrose Party Fundraising

Progressive Conservative Annual Donations davebertaAlberta Liberal Annual Donations daveberta

 

Alberta Party Annual Donations daveberta

 

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