SCOOP: Political party payouts for 2022
And a soft landing for a controversial staffer
ABOVE THE FOLD
First in Observer — RECEIPTS REVEALED II — On Friday, we told you how the political parties stacked up financially at the end of last year. Then, I trekked to Elections Ontario in Scarborough to parse the detailed annual returns that lay out who got paid what exactly.
Here are the party payouts for 2022:
For the PCs:
Campaign Research and Campaign Support — run by PC pollster and strategist NICK KOUVALIS: $524,584 for research, polling, outreach and travel
The Responsive Marketing Group, the firm connected to the PCs invoice-style fundraising mailer controversy: $1,390,458
ElectRight Inc., where MICHAEL CRASE, former executive director of the PC Party, worked as chief operating officer: $335,610 for outreach
Yorkville Strategies, headed up by Tory adviser and partner at Maple Leaf Strategies DIMITRI PANTAZOPOULOS: $109,200
Rubicon Strategy — led by PC campaign manager KORY TENEYCKE: $14,125 for ads, comms and media
RevGen Professional Fundraising: $339,366
Toronto Congress Centre, one of the Premier’s favourite venues: $527,081
Creative Currency Inc., sister agency to Enterprise Canada: $198,843 for advertising, comms and office administration
Stack Data Strategy: $107,758 for fundraising services
Italian restaurant Posticino, in the heart of Ford Nation in Etobicoke: $38,323 for hosting meetings and fundraisers
For the NDP:
LUCY WATSON, ex-party president: $17,681 on accommodations, plus another $4,867 for advertising
For ex-leader ANDREA HORWATH’s clothing: $4,486. Event planner LAURA ZIEMBA got another $1,156 for clothing
DEVON SISSONS, longtime Horwath staffer, now tour director for OLIVIA CHOW’s mayoral campaign: $38,575 on travel
KIRATPAL SINGH DHANO, chair of the federal Young New Democrats: $9,944 on travel and accommodation, and $2,233 on rentals
MARY RITA HOLLAND, Kingston councillor and former candidate: $4,200 for consulting
For singer JULLY BLACK’s performance: $21,300
Outgoing MPP LAURA MAE LINDO received $5,000 for child care — a struggle that spurred the single parent’s resignation
For consulting:
NDP operative PENNY MARNO: $37,554
Digital campaign strategist LINDSAY BERNATH: $13,676
DEB PARENT, then-assistant to Horwath: $7,990
Broadbent Institute: $26,389
For advertising:
PointBlank Creative: $177,535
Now Communications: $673,520
Bluesky Communications: $21,300
For the Liberals:
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Data Sciences topped the spendings charts again — taking home another $658,657 for a “digital initiative” under the advertising, research and polling category.
Reminder: The firm is headed up by Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU’s childhood friend and former campaign chief digital strategist TOM PITFIELD, and is the keeper of the party’s voter-contact database Liberalist. It got over $3.5 million during the spring campaign
Intellivote: $8,000, for electronic voting as part of nomination expenses
DAVID INNES, who was director of Information Technology for the then-ruling Grits: $49,557
Lloyd Rang Communications — run by the Grits longtime speechwriter: $12,138
The timing: These numbers are above and beyond what the parties spent during the 2022 campaign period, covering from January to May and then September to December of last year.
Go deeper: Get the real spending of the 2022 election.