By Canadian Press

Greens boost second-quarter fundraising amid party turmoil

Jul 23, 2021 | 10:39 AM

OTTAWA — The federal Green party increased its year-over-year fundraising figures nine per cent last quarter, just as internal strife was spilling into public view.

Elections Canada filings show the Greens raised about $682,000 in the second quarter of 2021 compared with roughly $626,600 in the same period a year earlier.

The numbers present a different picture than the one cast in a party-wide email from Green president Liana Canton Cusmano last month saying the party has seen “reduced donations” under leader Annamie Paul.

Paul, who was elected to the role in October, also oversaw a fundraising bump of 17 per cent in the first quarter compared to the first three months of 2020.

Most federal parties saw a drop in fundraising last year as the pandemic dented donations of all kinds and made parties rethink some of their traditional fundraising tools.

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The Greens pulled in less in the latest quarter than in the same period in 2019, an election year, but more than in the second quarter of each of the three years before that.

The fresh figures mark a small bright spot for Paul, who continues to struggle against a coterie of party executives who launched a legal proceeding against her this week in an ongoing effort to oust her ahead of a likely federal election.

Late Thursday, Cusmano sent an email to party members obtained by The Canadian Press that said it was Paul who set off the legal wrangling by initiating an arbitration process that shut down a planned non-confidence vote against her by the party’s federal council.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2021.

The Canadian Press