Ottawa is a hot spot for political donations, new analysis suggests

Ottawa provided lucrative territory for federal political party fundraisers during the five years after the 2015 election, suggests a new analysis of Elections Canada political donations data.

The riding of Ottawa Centre, which includes the Glebe and Parliament Hill, ranked first for total donations nationwide, contributing $5.9 million to federal political parties in the years following the Liberals’ sweeping 2015 election victory through the end of 2020. This was substantially more than the national average of about $853,000, according to an analysis by the Local News Data Hub at Toronto Metropolitan University and the Investigative Journalism Foundation, a non-profit journalism startup tracking political donations and lobbyist activity in partnership with scholars from Canadian universities.

Among the country’s 338 ridings, Ottawa–Vanier, a riding encompassing Rockcliffe Park, was also among the top locales for fundraisers, ranking seventh overall with contributions totalling $3.1 million. Affluent ridings in major cities, especially those represented by higher-profile politicians, dominated the top of the list.

Among the reasons for Ottawa Centre and Ottawa–Vanier’s high ranking:

• Donors dug deep: The average donation in Ottawa Centre was $1,226, and in Ottawa–Vanier, it was $1,154. By comparison, the national average was $831.
• More people donated: 4,812 residents in Ottawa Centre, or 475 out of every 10,000 registered voters, reached into their pockets to support political parties. In Ottawa–Vanier, 2,650 people donated. The national average was 971 donors per riding or 119 per 10,000 voters.

The Liberal Party received more than half of all donations in both ridings, drawing $3.3 million from Ottawa Centre and $1.8 million from Ottawa–Vanier. These totals were for donations greater than $200 to federal political parties, electoral district associations and 2019 election candidates.

Ottawa Centre residents’ engagement with politics motivates them to donate generously to federal political parties, said Geoff Turner, chair of the Ottawa Centre Federal Liberal Association. Residents in the riding, he noted, tend to work and volunteer in the public sphere.

“There’s just a higher level of [political] activity,” he said. “There’s a higher proportion of people who spend their professional and personal lives focused on public policy.”  Ranking second and third for total donations were Toronto’s University–Rosedale riding, which encompasses the wealthy enclave of Rosedale-Moore Park, and the riding of Toronto–St. Paul’s, home to part of the tony Forest Hill neighbourhood. Together they contributed nearly $9.5 million to federal parties over the five-year period.

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The analysis, which mostly focused on the 17 ridings in the 95th percentile, meaning that total donations were greater than in 95 per cent of all ridings, found a clear relationship between median income and total donations.

People who are well-off are also more likely to vote, said Erin Crandall, an associate professor of politics at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, noting that research has consistently linked voter turnout with affluence. “They feel like they’re a part of the democratic system and party system,” she said.

In Ottawa Centre, median income and voter turnout were both higher than in most ridings. The median income was about $10,000 higher than the national level of $34,204. Voter participation in the 2019 election was 78 per cent, substantially above the 67 per cent for all of Canada. Although the median income in Ottawa–Vanier was a little lower than the national level, voter turnout was slightly above what it was for the country as a whole in 2019.

Erin Tolley, an associate professor of political science at Carleton University, said that compared with the United States, where “wealthy donors can really have considerable influence over political direction,” Canada’s political fundraising landscape is more focused on frequent, small donations.

Political financing experts and experienced fundraisers said federal laws limit donors’ influence on elected officials, with Elections Canada auditing party fundraising records and requiring parties to publish donor information for contributions greater than $200. Donations are currently limited to a maximum of $1,675 to each registered political party per year, an additional $1,675 spread among contestants in a party leadership race, and another $1,675 per party spread among local electoral district associations, candidates running for office and nomination contestants in a riding.

What political donations can buy donors is access.

“You might get a phone call returned faster. You might get invited to the exclusive little meet and greet … at some large donor’s house [or a] backyard barbecue,” said former Ontario finance minister Janet Ecker, who fundraised in her suburban riding just east of Toronto and has helped other Conservative candidates raise money. “But just because somebody’s got the ability to meet with you, or talk to you, doesn’t mean you’re doing what they want you to do.

“[A donation] might get you in the door, but it won’t guarantee you an outcome,” Ecker said, adding that as a legislator, she met with many people who never donated to her campaign or her party.

The involvement of well-known politicians also drives donations, Ecker said. Seven of the MPs elected in the 17 top ridings entered the 2019 election as cabinet ministers, including Ottawa Centre’s Catherine McKenna, who was environment minister; Jim Carr from Winnipeg South Centre, the then-minister of international trade diversification; and former transport minister Marc Garneau, from Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount in Montreal.

People donate because their values align with those of a party, said Michael Roy, a former national digital director for the NDP’s 2015 campaign. They believe their money will “help move those values forward,” he said.

Nationwide, counting donations of all amounts, the Conservative Party of Canada raised the most money over the five years. The federal party, Tory candidates and riding associations pulled in nearly $179 million, while the Liberals amassed $142 million. The NDP raised $52 million, the Green Party raised $24 million and the Bloc Québécois collected $7 million.

Top ridings for federal party fundraising (Oct. 20, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2020)

1. Ottawa Centre: $5.9 million
2. University–Rosedale: $5.4 million
3. Toronto–St. Paul’s: $4.1 million
4. Calgary Centre: $4 million
5. Don Valley West: $3.4 million
6. Vancouver Quadra: $3.3 million
7. Ottawa–Vanier: $3.1 million
8. Vancouver Centre: $2.7 million
9. West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky Country: $2.6 million
10. Victoria: $2.6 million
11. Saanich–Gulf Islands: $2.5 million
12. Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount: $2.3 million
13. Winnipeg South Centre: $2.3 million
14. Vancouver Granville: $2.3 million
15. Eglinton–Lawrence: $2.3 million
16. Oakville: $2.2 million
17. Edmonton Centre: $2.1 million

This story was produced by the Local News Data Hub, a project of the Local News Research Project at Toronto Metropolitan (formerly Ryerson) University’s School of Journalism, and the Investigative Journalism Foundation, a non-profit journalism startup tracking political donations and lobbyist activity in partnership with university researchers. The Canadian Press is the Data Hub’s operational partner. Detailed information on the data and methodology can be found here.