By Kayla Zhu and Michael Wong
Local News Data Hub and Investigative Journalism Foundation
Jan. 18, 2023
Vancouver 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 Vancouver Quadra ranked sixth for total donations nationwide, contributing $3.3 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 electoral districts, Vancouver Centre ranked eighth, with $2.7 million in total donations greater than $200 to federal political parties, electoral district associations and 2019 election candidates.
West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky Country was ninth with $2.6 million, and Vancouver Granville was 14th with $2.3 million. Affluent ridings in major cities, especially those represented by higher-profile politicians, dominated the top of the list.
Among the reasons for the Vancouver ridings’ high rankings:
- Donors dug deep: The average donation in Vancouver Quadra was $1,245. The average in the three other ridings ranged between $1,093 and $1,138. By comparison, the national average for all ridings was $831.
- More people donated: The number of donors in the Vancouver ridings was more than two times higher than the national average of 971 donors, or 119 per 10,000 registered voters. On the high end in Vancouver, 2,620 people donated in Vancouver Quadra or 345 out of every 10,000 registered voters. Vancouver Granville, with 2,087 contributors, or 251 per 10,000 voters, was on the lower end.
The Conservative Party was the main beneficiary of donor largesse in West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky Country, drawing $1.3 million, or 50 per cent of total donations. The Liberal Party pulled in the most money in the three other ridings, with contributions ranging from about $1 million to $1.6 million.
Nationally, Ottawa Centre led the country in political contributions. The riding, which includes Parliament Hill and is home to many public servants, lobbyists and others with a stake in public policy, generated $5.9 million in donations.
Geoff Turner, chair of the Ottawa Centre Federal Liberal Association, said residents in the riding 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.”
The analysis, which focused mostly on the 17 ridings in the 95th percentile, meaning that total donations were greater than in 95 per cent of all ridings in the country, found a clear relationship between median income and total donations.
This held true for the Vancouver ridings: Median income in all four of them was somewhat higher than the national level of $34,204. Vancouver Quadra contains part of the affluent Kerrisdale area, while Vancouver Granville includes the Shaughnessy neighbourhood known for its multimillion-dollar homes. West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky Country includes the district of West Vancouver with its luxury waterfront and mountainside properties, while Vancouver Centre encompasses the city’s downtown core, which in recent years was one of the most expensive areas in Canada by square foot.
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.
Voter turnout in Vancouver Quadra and West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky Country was at or above the national participation rate, which was 67 per cent for all of Canada in the 2019 election. In the other two ridings, however, turnout was lower than for the country as a whole.
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)
- Ottawa Centre: $5.9 million
- University–Rosedale: $5.4 million
- Toronto–St. Paul’s: $4.1 million
- Calgary Centre: $4 million
- Don Valley West: $3.4 million
- Vancouver Quadra: $3.3 million
- Ottawa–Vanier: $3.1 million
- Vancouver Centre: $2.7 million
- West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky Country: $2.6 million
- Victoria: $2.6 million
- Saanich–Gulf Islands: $2.5 million
- Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount: $2.3 million
- Winnipeg South Centre: $2.3 million
- Vancouver Granville: $2.3 million
- Eglinton–Lawrence: $2.3 million
- Oakville: $2.2 million
- 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.
