In the third quarter, the Wildrose performed well, raising just over $263,000. The New Democrats came in second at just over $82,000. The PCs raised just $15,575.50, even less than the Alberta Liberals, who gathered just under $30,000.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
The Alberta Progressive Conservatives have a bigger problem than just being out of power: They are also finding it difficult to raise money.
Recently released party finance records from Elections Alberta have revealed that, since the May election, the PCs' ability to find donors has rapidly declined. Even worse news for them is that a large proportion of the money they raised during the campaign came from corporate donors, something that is no longer possible under legislation passed in June.
In a specific way, the campaign itself was good for the Conservatives, with the party raising the most money, pulling in a hefty $3.3-million. This total was slightly more than both the victorious NDP and the Opposition Wildrose combined. The party's strength was found in corporate donations, making up more than half of its donations over $250.
While the NDP and Wildrose also raised money from corporations and unions, donations from individuals represented about two-thirds of each party's fundraising haul.
This partisan difference in finding donations from individuals is not great news for the Conservatives. While more money is always better, not all money is created equal any more: One of the NDP's first bills banned corporate and union donations. This will affect all of the major parties, as the PCs and Wildrose receive large amounts of corporate donations and the New Democrats similarly benefit from union donations, but the Conservatives will be the hardest hit. In the first quarter of the year, they raised only about one-fifth of their money from individual donors.
Some of the effect of this legislation might already be noticeable. In the third quarter, the Wildrose performed well, raising just over $263,000. The New Democrats came in second at just over $82,000.
Most shockingly, the PCs raised just $15,575.50, even less than the Alberta Liberals, who gathered together just under $30,000. To put this in perspective, the Liberals won just 4 per cent of the vote in May, electing just a single MLA.
Future legislation could further hamper the Tories' ability to raise funds, especially if a cap on individual donations is also put into place. Federally, individuals can give only $1,500 to any party, and $1,500 to any individual candidate of a given party. Both the NDP and Wildrose have traditionally done well with donations under this limit, while the PCs have often relied heavily on large donations from individuals.
This is not to say the party should be without hope.
Campaign finance legislation similar to Alberta's was introduced federally in the early 2000s, banning corporate and union donations and placing strict limits on maximum donations. For several elections, this hampered the federal Liberals, who were more reliant on bigger donations from individuals and corporations. The Conservatives, on the other hand, were much more adept at raising small amounts of money from large numbers of Canadians.
Part of the recent federal success of the Liberals was the result of the party focusing on catching up with the Conservatives' fundraising machine.
If the Alberta PCs are to make a serious political comeback, part of the solution will be changing how they raise money, and it will require a long-term effort to identify and raise small amounts of money from large numbers of Albertans. Unless they are able to do this more quickly than the federal Liberals were, it may take the party several elections to catch up.