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- NDP leadership candidates explain their plans to Power Politics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Working in his favour, however, is his strong performance in Ontario and B.C., two provinces that combine for 68 per cent of the NDP’s membership. He raised $454,000 in Ontario and $95,000 in B.C. Altogether, that represents\u00a049\u00a0per cent of the money raised by any candidate in these two crucial provinces.<\/p>\n
Singh’s momentum might be waning<\/h2>\n
The\u00a0figures suggest\u00a0Singh wasn’t\u00a0able to maintain his fundraising dominance through the summer. Up to the end of June, when he had been in the race for just six weeks, he had raised $357,000, more than his three rivals combined. That impressive pace\u00a0was a signal that Singh had the potential to blow away the competition.<\/p>\n
Over the next 10\u00a0weeks, however, Singh raised $262,000, less than half of all money raised by the leadership candidates over that period.<\/p>\n
But Singh has had a strong September relative to his opponents. In the first two weeks, he raised $56,000 while Caron raised $20,000 and\u00a0Ashton raised $15,000. Angus raised $11,000 in the first week of September.<\/p>\n
Angus tops Toronto, Singh dominating GTA<\/h2>\n
Singh raised more money in the Greater Toronto Area, outside of the city itself,\u00a0than Angus did throughout the province or Ashton and Caron did throughout the country.<\/p>\n
About 52 per cent of every dollar raised by Singh’s campaign, or $322,000, came from the GTA, where he represents a seat in the Ontario legislature. His next closest competitor in the GTA was Angus, at\u00a0$41,000.<\/p>\n
![\"NDP](\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.4294193.1505685703!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/ndp-leadership-showcase-20170917.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAngus raised the most fundraising dollars in Toronto. (Chris Young\/Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
But despite holding a seat in northern Ontario, Angus raised the most\u00a0money in Toronto. He took in $92,000 in the city, just edging out Singh’s $90,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Angus was also the top fundraiser in eastern Ontario, as well as in his native northern Ontario. He collected $56,000 in contributions there, representing 87\u00a0per cent of all the money raised in the region.<\/p>\n
Ashton is the Prairie favourite<\/h2>\n
Ashton\u00a0did well in her home region, too. She raised the most money in Manitoba, as well as in Saskatchewan and Alberta. In all, she raised $63,000 in the three provinces. That put her well ahead of Angus’s $34,000, Singh’s $29,000 and Caron’s $19,000.<\/p>\n
What do the latest fundraising numbers tell us about the NDP leadership race?<\/strong>3:53<\/p>\n
These three provinces account for 23 per cent of the NDP’s membership, making them a potentially\u00a0important voting bloc \u2014 though membership numbers could have been driven more by the provincial leadership contests in Saskatchewan and Manitoba\u00a0than by the federal vote.<\/p>\n
Caron leads in Quebec, but just barely<\/h2>\n
Much has been made about the importance of Quebec to the NDP \u2014 not for winning the leadership as\u00a0members from the province make up just four\u00a0per cent of the national total, but for winning the next general election. The NDP’s caucus has 16 MPs from Quebec, more than in any other province.<\/p>\n
Caron led the field with $40,000 raised in Quebec, but that put him just ahead of Singh’s $33,000. Ashton was third\u00a0with $15,000.<\/p>\n
![\"NDP](\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.4021970.1489396210!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/ndp-leadership-debate-20170312.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCaron led the field with $40,000 raised in Quebec. (Justin Tang\/Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
The regional breakdown, however, shows Caron and Singh’s support came from different parts of the province. Singh raised most of his money in the Montreal region ($26,000) while Caron raised the bulk of his outside the province’s biggest city ($33,000).<\/p>\n
This does align with Caron’s message to NDP members, that the party needs to appeal to Quebecers outside of Montreal to win seats. But Caron’s advantage in Quebec was exaggerated by the greater amount the average donor\u00a0in the province gave to him. In total number of contributors, Ashton, Caron and Singh were roughly tied.<\/p>\n
Singh taps into Sikh community<\/h2>\n
In the final debate of the campaign in Vancouver, both Ashton and Angus expressed concerns about Singh’s potential\u00a0appeal in every part of the country.<\/p>\n
“I know he raised a lot of money, and certainly a lot of that money was raised in Brampton,” said Angus. “But how do we make sure that is going to affect Lac-Saint-Jean, how’s that going to affect Moose Jaw?”<\/p>\n
Singh has indeed raised a lot of money in Brampton, Ont., where he holds a seat. Fully $179,000, or 29 per cent of all of his fundraising, came from Brampton. By comparison, the other candidates combined raised little more than $2,000 in the city.<\/p>\n
The implication, however, was not just geographic. There is a large Sikh community in Brampton, of which Singh is a member. Singh has certainly galvanized Sikhs to support\u00a0his campaign \u2014 1,200 of his contributions come from people named\u00a0Singh or Kaur. Judging by donor names, at least a majority of Singh’s backers appear to have been drawn from the Sikh community.<\/p>\n