Looking back at the campaign expenditures in my riding last election, I noticed that, although the Liberals receive funding for having official party status that we don't, Liberal Sam Parmar received $855 from the Alberta Liberal Party and his constituency association.
He had to raise the rest of his financing from friends, family, and donations. Winning NDP candidate Ray Martin, meanwhile, received $20 000. Parmar's situation is similar to mine, although it is possible that the Parmar clan is wealthy such that there was little burden on them. But even so, Martin outspent Sam Parmar several-fold.
I don't expect the Martin money machine to be any less powerful this time, especially when the NDP, the party that is going to "take big $$$ out of politics", have announced a $140 000 TV ad campaign targeted at Edmonton.
Interestingly, I'd say the Liberals have a bigger campaign presence than the NDP this time around, so I wonder if Liberal HQ thinks Ray Martin is vulnerable.
On an unrelated note, thanks to those who honked approvingly while I was putting out my campaign signs. That, and comments like Jimmy's to my post below, make me feel that I am doing the right thing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Brian, you realize that the Liberal Party is still $500 000 in debt from the last election, right? Perhaps that is part of the reason the Liberal candidate in your riding (and others) was underfunded. Moreover, the Alberta Liberals don't receive federal transfers from the Liberal Party of Canada (although the Alberta ND's get money from Jack).
I only checked a few ridings, but the transfers from the party to ridings in 2004 were so paltry than it is a bit of a wonder how the Alberta Liberals racked up debt like that. Only $250 came from the party in Beverly - Clareview last time. It appears that this time the stronger Liberal campaign follows from a stronger constituency association in this riding. In any case, I would certainly agree with you that the NDP seems to be more of a big spending machine than the Liberals.
You'd think the Ray Martin team could recycle their signs from last time, for example. I've only see select homeowners do that, however (displaying old Ray Martin signs) Why buy so many new ones? They must have some $$$ to burn.
The Alberta Liberal debt is leftover from Nancy Macbeth's disastrous campaign seven years ago.
I think the discrepancy in the money the parties give to candidates has to with the way they do their bookkeeping. Liberal and PC candidates receive most of their campaign donations directly, while the NDP seems to collect donations centrally and then transfer the money to candidates.
Post a Comment