Conservative leadership hopeful Pierre Poilievre takes part in the Conservative Party of Canada French-language leadership debate in Laval, Que., on May 25.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
The federal Conservatives raised more money than the Liberals and NDP combined during the second quarter of this year, as the party inches closer to choosing a new leader.
The Conservatives raised over $4.4 million from about 36,000 donors between April 1 and June 30, while in the middle of a leadership race.
The governing Liberals raised nearly $2.8 million from almost 28,000 donors and New Democrats received almost $1.2 million in contributions from nearly 16,000 people.
The federal Greens raised almost $438,000 from about 5,200 Canadians while over 1,600 people donated about $248,000 to the Bloc Quebecois.
The People’s Party of Canada, which does not hold any seats in Parliament, raised just under $200,000 from about 4,000 donors.
All parties, except for the Greens, received less money from donations in the second quarter than in the first three months of the year.
A year-over-year comparison shows donations are down from the second quarter of 2021, when parties were gearing up for a rumoured snap election.
That quarter, the Conservatives raised almost $5.2 million from about 35,000 donors and the Liberals raised $3.3 million from over 36,000 donors, while over 18,000 NDP supporters gave just over $1.5 million. The Greens received about $682,000 in donations from over 8,000 Canadians and the Bloc Quebecois raised about $312,000 from 2,300 donors.
There are no filings for the People’s Party of Canada for the second quarter of last year.
Financial returns filed with Elections Canada also lay out contributions to the Conservative federal leadership candidates during the second quarter, which totalled over $8 million.
Front-runner Pierre Poilievre received the most contributions of the candidates running for leadership of the party.
Poilievre raised just over $4 million, while former Quebec premier Jean Charest raised almost $1.4 million for the race.
The Conservatives will announce the winner of the leadership race on Sept. 10.
For subscribers: Get exclusive political news and analysis by signing up for the Politics Briefing.