Vaughn Palmer: Conservative fundraising eclipsed NDP’s during campaign

VICTORIA — The B.C. Conservatives raised almost $3 in campaign contributions for every $1 raised by the New Democrats in advance of the October provincial election, according to the latest financial report from Elections B.C.

The massive influx of cash only started after Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigned from the party leadership.

Whereas many NDP supporters not only sat on their hands during the election, they also sat on their wallets.

The Conservatives received $2,729,016.27 in total political contributions from July 1 to Sept. 30, according to a report from the independent regulator of provincial elections, released Tuesday.

About 90 per cent — $2,447,690.92 — came in following Findlay’s resignation on Sept. 20. The surge included a whopping $800,000 on the final day of reporting, Sept. 30.

Clearly, a lot of Conservative financial backers were holding back until the discredited Findlay vacated the leadership to be replaced by Lorne Doerkson.

The cash flow also indicates why Peter Milobar, and other Conservatives who had taken refuge in CentreBC, decided to throw in with Doerkson in the wake of Findlay’s departure.

The Conservatives, despite their previous chaos, had the more established party organization and fundraising apparatus.

The fundraising report provided a no less telling story on the NDP side. Over the past two years (including the 2024 election), the New Democrats raised $12 million, to just under $9 million for the Conservatives.

The NDP fell behind in the first two quarters of this year as the Conservative party reaped a financial windfall from contributions to candidates during their leadership campaign.

The fundraising gap opened up in the third quarter when the New Democrats pulled in $986,093.03 to the Conservatives $2.7 million-plus.

The tally for the quarter included $755,847.90 that came in the wake of Premier David Eby’s election call on the Sept. 22, dwarfed by the $2.4 million taken in by the Conservatives over roughly the same span.

Final figures on political donations for the year won’t be available until later. The report for the 2024 election year wasn’t released until April 8 2025.

Given the campaign contributions reported to date, while the Conservatives opened their chequebooks for new leader Doerkson, the New Democrats showed nothing like that level of enthusiasm for Eby.

The NDP’s disappointing showing on funding reinforces other evidence that the governing party was not nearly ready for an early election.

That was not the case with the election called by Eby’s predecessor John Horgan for Oct. 24, 2020, a year ahead of schedule.

The New Democrats began holding campaign workshops in the spring of that year, and by summer Elections B.C. had already moved to a high state of readiness.