ABOVE THE FOLD
FUNDRAISING WATCH I — Ontario’s fundraising arms race cruised through the dog days of summer and — surprise, surprise — the governing PCs came out on top again.
Premier DOUG FORD’s money-making machine pulled in nearly $1.5M from July through September — a reminder that the ruling party’s financial edge shows no signs of slowing down.
Quick caveat before we dive in: Elections Ontario posts disclosures in real time, but there’s usually a lag of a couple of weeks. That means these numbers could shift a little once everything is finalized, but we’ve got a solid snapshot of where things stand heading into the fall session. Also: The electoral watchdog doesn’t readily disclose donations under $200, so the parties’ internal haul is almost certainly higher than what’s out there. That impacts smaller-donor parties like the NDP in particular.
By the numbers:
The PCs hauled in $1,440,190 in Q3, with an average donation of $811 from 1,775 donors.
The Liberals muscled into second place, …