Conservatives Beat the NDP in the Final Fundraising Race

In the last fundraising quarter ahead of the provincial election, the surging BC Conservatives raised more money than the governing NDP.

Between July 1 and Sept. 30 the Conservatives took in $3.4 million, substantially more than the $3 million the NDP received, according to Elections BC records.

Under John Rustad’s leadership the Conservatives won 44 of the legislature’s 93 seats, a remarkable gain for a party that failed to elect a single MLA in the last election four years ago. With 47 seats, the NDP and Premier David Eby will return to power with the smallest possible majority. The remaining two seats were won by Green candidates.

BC Conservative officials did not respond to a request for comment.

The NDP released a statement saying the quarterly fundraising was a record for their party as well and pointing out that they received a larger number of small donations than did the Conservatives, who “relied disproportionately on larger donations, including from several billionaires.”

“While billionaires like Chip Wilson back Rustad’s plan for tax breaks for the wealthiest, everyday British Columbians are standing with David Eby,” the statement quoted NDP provincial director Heather Stoutenburg saying.

Under rule changes made following the 2017 election, individual donations were capped at $1,450.82 annually and contributions from corporations and unions are prohibited.

The bulk of Conservative donations, more than 70 per cent, came in the month after Aug. 28 when BC United suspended its campaign and withdrew its candidates to avoid vote splitting among right-wing parties.

The Conservative take in the quarter was more than three times what they had raised in the preceding three months, when their fundraising total was half of the NDP’s.

There will be a further influx of funding for the Conservatives starting in January thanks to the per-vote subsidy that’s been in place since 2018.

Based on the results of the election and a planned adjustment for inflation, the party should receive about $1.7 million, slightly less than the NDP.

In September Rustad complained that election funding was “rigged” against his party, which received $65,000 in public subsidy this year based on its small share of the vote in 2020.

The BC Greens, which won two seats in the election, raised a little more than $608,000 in the most recent quarter. The party’s per-vote subsidy will drop to about $320,000 a year.

BC United received about $456,000 in donations in the last quarter, most of it coming in before the campaign suspension. Its per-vote subsidy will drop to nothing from more than $1.15 million a year.

MLAs are scheduled to be sworn in next week, and Eby has said he will announce his new cabinet on Nov. 18 at a swearing-in at Government House in Victoria.

He has also said he’s planning on a short fall sitting of the legislature but has yet to announce dates.