Manitoba Liberals report 2022 donations drop

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This article was published 14/04/2023 (1137 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With a provincial election looming, and having slipped in recent polls, the Manitoba Liberal Party this week reported donations dropped in 2022.

The political party’s annual financial statement, filed April 12 and posted on the Elections Manitoba website, shows it received a total of $250,556 contributions last year.

In 2021, the Manitoba Liberal Party received $289,781.

In comparison, the Opposition NDP’s 2022 return (filed March 31) reported $1.356 million in donations.

The PCs reported $1.4 million in monetary contributions in 2022, its its filing Friday.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said he expects his party’s fortunes will improve this year.

“As we gear up for the 2023 general election, we recently underwent organizational restructuring in fundraising,” he said Friday. “We are ready to hit the ground running this year, as our membership continues to grow.”

In 2022, Liberal donations of less than $250 totalled $52,562. Donations of $250 or more totalled $197,994.

Just two donors contributed the maximum $5,000, including Gail Asper, Winnipeg philanthropist and daughter of former Manitoba Liberal leader Izzy Asper.

The second-largest contribution — $4,597 — came from Lamont, MLA for St. Boniface.

The Liberals largest expense in 2022 was $105,167 for honoraria and salaries.

They lost official party status in the Manitoba legislature — and the funding and resources that come with it — in 2019, when they won just three seats.

It’s tougher for third parties across Canada to maintain high-level donations, said University of Winnipeg political studies Prof. Félix Mathieu.

“A 15 per cent decrease in donations is significant, though,” Mathieu said. “The Manitoba Liberals devoted a great deal of energy trying to win byelections in 2022.”

The Liberal candidate in Fort Whyte (Willard Reaves) narrowly lost to Tory rival Obby Khan. The Liberal candidate finished third in the Kirkfield Park byelection.

“As they were not successful at winning a byelection, it makes it harder for the party to convince members to donate money, because they don’t have concrete results to boost confidence and party allegiance,” Mathieu said.

The Liberals have also seen a decline in popularity, according to a Probe Research Inc. survey for the Free Press in March. It showed support for the Liberals fell below 10 per cent (to nine per cent) for the first time since 2011.

However, with an election slated for Oct. 3, now is not the time to change leaders, Mathieu said.

“There is still hope for the Manitoba Liberals,” he said, pointing to Reaves’s campaign as a recipe for success.

“They need to do old-fashioned, bottom-up politics, and find candidates in key electoral districts that are known by the public and are willing to knock on every single door in their district.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca