‘Canadians Ready for an Election’ says Layton; But Are the Parties?
[Welcome, National Newswatch readers!]
NDP Leader Jack Layton says "Canadians want a fall election" (video courtesy TheMarkNews.com). But are the parties ready for one financially? The 2nd quarter donor reports were due today, and we already have the numbers from Layton's party as well as the Bloc Québécois.
At $712K, the NDP matched and slightly beat their 2nd quarter of 2009, even though as they point out they booked about a third of their 2009 convention revenue in Q2 last year. Still, the party also withdrew from direct fundraising appeals for the first five months of 2009, only resuming on June 10, as party national director Brad Lavigne told the Hill Times last year [UPDATE: Link updated, thanks to a reader]. He said in the same story that the money came pouring in afterwards, so this was likely the result of convention revenue from the early-bird fees.
On the other hand, this year's Q2 result comes atop a very strong first quarter for the NDP in 2010, putting Layton's party ahead of where it was in 2009, although slightly behind their mid-year results in 2007-08. And their donor counts are roughly the same by category as last year's Q2, save for the 200 anonymous donor count then (of an average donation of $1.75 each).
[Click on image to open up the NDP Finances page.]
Meanwhile, the Bloc Québécois is falling back a tiny bit from their 2009 showing, but still well ahead of their 2007-2008 performance. They reported just under $72K in contributions, up slightly from 2009, but on top of a slightly weaker Q1. I'm interpreting this to mean that their new monthly contribution program is now firmly in place, but not expanding significantly over last year.
[Click on image to open up the BQ Finances page.]
The Elections Canada financial returns website has been having periodic problems today, and is currently back down again. However you can at least get the numbers at the Pundits' Guide Finances module here for now. [RAPID UPDATE: It's back up again, again.]
The Conservative, Liberal and Green Party returns were not yet available at time of publication, but we'll cover them when they surface.
Tags: Party Finance
more likely we will see a couple of by-elections in the fall if some mp’s rumoured to be leaving actually leave than say an actual all out election at this time . at least that be my thinking at this time . i’d say layton is more talking big than anything else and ndp candidates in Ontario not talking about an actual election anytime soon . i know the one for tony clements riding just quit and doesn’t expect an election rate away and the one for Ancaster Dundas is running for a school board trustee position now as well and might not bother running federally .
“I don’t think it will happen this fall and there’s a mild chance that there might be a spring election, but people higher up in the party think next fall. Really, who knows,” said Allen.
http://www.cottagecountrynow.ca/community/southmuskoka/article/854865
( quote from the article where Diana Allen nominated ndp candidate for Parry Sound – Muskoka announces she is leaving and doesn’t expect an election for a while )
Jack Layton posted a twit pic on his twitter today referring to Francoise Boivin as the candidate for Gatineau, yet I see she’s not listed in the database. Is she not formally nominated yet? It seems she’s been continually campaigning since the last election ending.
http://twitpic.com/2dg0rc
I think she is the candidate of record, and is certainly planning to run again. But I’m told that no nomination meeting has taken place as yet. Also, Mme. Boivin is the co-president of the federal party’s Québec section. So, he would have a variety of reasons to attend an event with her.