Angry in the Great White North

a heat-seeking missile in the Conservative arsenal

From the Hill Times:

The Conservatives raised $3.2-million in the third quarter of this year, the most of any other federal political party, bringing their total so far to more than $10-million.

Elections Canada released the quarterly financial returns for the parties last week showing that the Conservative Party raised the most money, followed by the governing Liberals who raised $1,189,474.24.

Liberal MP John McKay (Scarborough-Guildwood, Ont.) was surprised to find out the Conservatives had out-fundraised the Liberals for the third straight quarter and said he didn't know the reason for it.

Can't think of a single reason why people put a death grip on their wallets when there's a Liberal at the door?

Come on. Nothing at all comes to mind? Nothing?

Maybe it's because people have come to realize that Liberals steal money!

Well, McKay did come up with one possible reason:

"I would imagine that the profile of the average Conservative supporter is likely a more affluent supporter than would be ours, that would be my guess. Other than that, I don't know," Mr. McKay said.

Here we go. The Liberal Party is the party of the little guy, while the Conservative Party is backed by rich people, and we all know rich people are bad people, what with their private health care and gas guzzling cars and so on and so forth.

Not only is that characterization absurd on the face of it, the numbers show that if you want to make that sort of comparison, you need to switch "Liberal" for "Conservative", because it's the Liberals who get money from the well-heeled:

The Conservatives, however, received $2.39-million in donations from 31,116 for $200 or less. Thirty-seven people gave the Conservative Party the maximum $5,100 contribution allowed. Their total contributors for the third quarter is 32,714.

In contrast, the Liberals received $307,367.67 from 5,888 people for $200 or less and 28 people gave $5,000.

The NDP, meanwhile, received $520,516.16 from 10,228 for $200 or less and did not receive a single donation worth more than $2,500.

The Bloc, meanwhile, received $70,759 from 1,734 people for $200 or less. The highest single donation was $1,170.

It looks like it's the Conservative Party that holds the mantle of the party that best represents the average Canadian, at least inasmuch as these numbers are able to grant that title.

Interesting, we have this little tidbit:

Independent MP Carolyn Parrish (Mississauga-Erindale, Ont.), who got kicked out of the Liberal caucus last year for making anti-American remarks and not-so-favourable remarks against the Liberal Party, transferred $10,000 to an unspecified Liberal candidate. She did not return a call from The Hill Times for comment.

As you might already know, Carolyn Parrish is not seeking re-election.

So let's look at the numbers once more:

• Donated by individuals:
  • Liberals: $1,062,332.13
  • Conservatives: $3,247,131
• Transfered from an association:
  • Liberals: $117,142.11
  • Conservatives: $0
• Transfered to a candidate:
  • Liberals: $10,000
  • Conservatives: $0
• Total number of contributors:
  • Liberals: 6,943
  • Conservatives: 32,714