Maxime Bernier's PPC fundraiser raises $1 million in donations for fledgling party

The People's Party of Canada appears to be rapidly mobilizing into a fundraising machine.

According to an email sent out by the Bernier team, in the last five months, the party has pulled in over $1 million in donations.

"After signing up 34,000 members, establishing associations in 338 ridings, and getting officially recognized by Elections Canada, raising our first million $ after only five months is just another metric that proves we're the fastest growing party in Canada's history," Maxime Bernier told The Post Millennial.

To put this accomplishment into perspective, the NDP managed to raise roughly $900,000 by the end of June, and the Greens raised close to $600,000.

While the PPC is still far away from the Liberals who raised $3,000,000, and the reigning fundraising champions the Conservative Party who have already brought in $6,000,000, the overall donation levels are fairly surprising.

Canadian politics usually proceeds at a slow pace and the development of a significant base has typically taken multiple election cycles.

In less then five months, the PPC have placed a riding association in every corner of the nation, and now appear to be positioned to potentially compete in the 2019 election as the third most funded group.

Whether this financial support will transfer into real voters, we will have to wait and see. But so far an early poll in the Burnaby South by-election shows the PPC’s candidate Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson has received an 8.7% approval, far higher than their national popularity which currently stands at roughly 1.4%.

If on by-election day the party can maintain anywhere close to those numbers, it would be a clear sign that in ridings where the party spends, it can actually contest for a seat.

According to these fundraising numbers, that could be far more ridings than most would have expected.

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