Suprised? - not me. (en francais)

Conservatives out-fundraised Liberals in 2004
Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals have turned out to be the biggest losers under new party financing rules designed to curb the political influence of major corporations and other wealthy donors.

Figures released Monday by Elections Canada show the Grits raised $5.2 million from private-sector sources in 2004 _ less than half the $10.9 million raked in by the rival Conservatives.

The take for both parties was down from the previous year, but the Liberals clearly bore the brunt of the funding reforms that were pushed through Parliament by former prime minister Jean Chretien in the dying days of his government.

This article is hardly suprising. From what I have been looking at over the last week in my research of the TPC program, it fairly obvious where the Liberals have been getting their money, and how.

Currently I'm looking at Candidate returns from the 2004 election to match up TPC companies with candidates. I've only made it through about 25 ridings so far, but have managed to find some TPC companies. Again, this doesn't include personal donations or numbered companies. That will come in a later phase.

My guess is that the corporate money will simply shift to the individual EDAs and candidates. It's already begun. The last piece of the puzzle will be when Elections Canada posts the returns of all the EDAs. Not sure when this is going to happen, but should be sometime in the next couple of months.

If you take a look at the Elections Canada filings of Statements of Assest and Liablities for EDAs, you can get a good picture of where things stand today. Here's a list of the top 10 EDAs Canada wide:

Association libérale fédérale de LaSalle--Émard $248,001.24 - Paul Martin
Edmonton Centre Federal Liberal Association $194,275.00 - Anne McLellan
Beaches--East York Federal Liberal Association $183,231.40 - Maria Minna
Wascana Federal Liberal Association $160,038.18 - Ralph Goodale
Association libérale fédérale de Beauce $159,955.00 - Claude Drouin
Trinity--Spadina Federal Liberal Association $156,648.35 - Tony Ianno
Calgary--Nose Hill Conservative Association $154,903.58 - Diane Ablonczy
Essex Federal Liberal Association $153,635.21 - Susan Whelan
Saint-Léonard--Saint-Michel Federal Liberal Association $149,940.12 - Massimo Pacetti
West Vancouver--Sunshine Coast Conservative Association $146,304.59 - John Reynolds

It should be interesting to look at the corporate vs individual donations for these ridings, along with the last election returns. I'm sure it will be enlightening.