Parties pad war chests, readying for campaign

Federal parties appear to have seen a drop in their fundraising in 2020, a year when the pandemic dented donations of all kinds.

The Conservative return shows that the party pulled in more than $20.6 million in donations from almost 91,000 donors in 2020, down from the over $30.8 million contributed by nearly 124,00 people one year prior.

Party spokesman Cory Hann says the party still ran a surplus of nearly $4.5 million by year-end despite the difficulties COVID-19 presented for fundraising, one year after running a nearly $7-million deficit in the 2019 election year.

The Bloc Québécois brought in nearly $1.6 million in donations from over 10,100 donors last year, slightly down from the $1.8 million given by nearly 12,600 donors a year earlier.

The party also ran a surplus of almost $107,000 last year, smaller than the $512,000 surplus in 2019, which helped pad the party's bottom line as it prepares to run a slate of candidates only in Quebec.

Returns for the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens are not yet available.