Liberal leadership contender Mark Carney is pulling in more money from more contributors than any of his competitors in the race to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — and it’s not even close, according to Elections Canada filings released Tuesday.
Carney hauled in an impressive $1.9 million in donations from 11,260 contributors, a figure that easily dwarfs the $226,661 former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland collected from 332 donors in the first leg of this Liberal leadership race.
While Carney appears to have a comfortable fundraising edge, a spokesperson for Freeland told CBC News the data in the Elections Canada report is not complete and they are “actively working to correct the numbers.”
In a later statement, a spokesperson for Freeland said: “Today’s Elections Canada data doesn’t tell the whole story. Campaigns could either receive donations directly or let the Liberal Party hold on to them.”
In election parlance, these donations are known as “directed contributions,” which are contributions first made to the Liberal Party and then transferred to a leadership contestant.
A candidate may choose to go this route to allow the party to handle the logistics — and incur some of the associated fees — of collecting the money.
The spokesperson said the Freeland campaign has “raised nearly $600,000” from a total of “over 2,000” donors, when the directed contributions are included.
Carney is well ahead in the race to lock up caucus support with 83 MPs backing his candidacy so far, according to a CBC News tally of endorsements. Freeland has 26 MPs pulling for her.
Today’s financial returns combined with his overwhelming caucus support suggests Carney, the former Bank of Canada governor, is the front-runner in this race to pick the next prime minister.
The Elections Canada data covers all donations from the launch of this leadership campaign in early January to about Feb. 9 — although the Freeland data appears to be incomplete with donations only reported up until Jan. 29.
Mark Carney’s campaign for the Liberal leadership has raised $2 million as the deadline passed for candidates to make the final payment needed to stay in the race. Four others are vying for the leadership: Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould, Ruby Dhalla and Frank Baylis.
Under Elections Canada rules, candidates must report all of their donations four weeks out from the date set by the party to pick its next leader, which is March 9. The next tranche of financial data will be revealed just days before the leadership convention.
Former government House leader Karina Gould has so far raised $236,075 from 1,375 contributors, more than what Elections Canada data shows Freeland has pulled in so far.
Former Liberal MP and businessman Frank Baylis has also pulled in more money than what was reported for Freeland with $227,441 — but his money is coming from a small pool of 188 donors reported to Elections Canada.
Another former Liberal MP, Ruby Dhalla, trails the field with $144,880 in donations from 109 contributors.
