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Political parties rely heavily on donations to finance their operations but they've had to suspend in-person fundraising events since mid-March, when the country went into lockdown to curb the spread of the deadly new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.


"The health and safety of Canadians is always our top priority, and all in-person fundraising events were paused as of early March," said Liberal party spokesman Braeden Caley, adding that the party's communications with supporters during the pandemic have focused on the emergency benefits that are available to them, rather than the usual pleas for money.


Caley said some 75 to 100 full- and part-time staffers' paycheques are being subsidized by the federal government.


"As an organization, we rely heavily on the donations of individuals, especially for our day-to-day operations which are 100 per cent funded by our donors. We understand that many Canadians are not able to give at the moment, which is why we've been taking a different approach on donation asks and operations that take that into account," he said.

But it's not just that donations have dried up. Hann said the pandemic "has meant incurring unexpected expenses that ensures our staff have the ability and technology to work remotely for an extended period."


Anne McGrath, the NDP's national director, said her party has just applied for the subsidy for some 30 full- and part-time staffers and is awaiting the government's response.

"We had a fundraising plan for this year and ... it was actually going better than forecast and then the pandemic hit," she said.

"Our fundraising revenues experienced a significant decline."

McGrath acknowledged there is likely to be some criticism about political parties tapping into a wage subsidy program, which all parties' MPs voted to create. But she said political parties are a fundamental part of Canada's democracy and deserve to be treated the same as other eligible organizations, which include charities and non-profits.

"Personally, I think this is the responsible and right thing to do. It's what the program was designed for. We're part of this society, our workers deserve to be protected as much as any other workers."


"We have had a drop in donations and we are a non-profit and take seriously our responsibilities to protect the jobs of our staff members," he said.

It is not yet clear precisely how much the pandemic has hurt parties' fundraising efforts.






Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press