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Last-minute flood of cash brought Ontario Liberal fundraising equal with Tories

Last-minute flood of cash brought Ontario Liberal fundraising equal with Tories - image

In the days before and after Ontario’s October 6 election, over $800,000 flowed into Liberal coffers, bringing their fundraising about equal to the Tories, data shows.

Up until the Tuesday before the election, Liberal fundraising totalled about 77 per cent or the traditionally well-heeled Conservatives. But by the day after the election, the rivals’ funds were matched more or less dollar-for-dollar at about $2.9 million each.

As a result, the Tories spent more per seat than the Liberals ($79,414 to $54,858) and more per vote ($1.92 to $1.79).

Donation information was released Friday by Elections Ontario covering giving to parties’ central funds up to election day. Donors can continue to write cheques to party campaign funds until January, so money may continue to trickle in. The data is partial, but begins to give us a picture of the role money played in the campaign. Riding-level data is not included.

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The NDP spent 73 cents per vote ($42,155 per seat), and the Greens 65 cents per vote.

Overall, the NDP raised $716,643.

The three major parties’ funds came from different sources. About 65 per cent of giving to the Conservatives was by businesses, while about 40 per cent of money going to the NDP campaign came from unions, and most of the rest from individuals. The Liberal central fund had a rough three-way split between business, union and individual giving.
 

Total donations by party share

 

Corporate donations by party share

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Individual donations by party share

 

Union donations by party share

 

Non-profit donations by party share

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PC donations by category

 

Liberal donations by category

 

NDP donations by category

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Average amount of donation

 

Amount spent per seat

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