Federal Conservatives remain fundraising kings despite election loss to Liberals

The federal Conservative party may have lost the October2015 federal election, but its fundraising machine remainsthe kingof the hill.

First-quarter data released by Elections Canada show the federalConservatives raked in almost $5.5 million through the first threemonths of 2016, more than the Liberals and New Democrats combined.

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The governing Liberals collected just over $4 million but maytake some comfort in beating the Conservatives in theabsolutenumbers of donors who chipped in.

Just more than 35,900 Canadians made a contribution to theLiberal party in the first quarter of 2016, exactly 3,400moredonors than the Conservatives reported.

The NDP, which fell to third-party status in last fall's electionafter entering the race hoping to win power, collected just $1.3million in the first quarter, from a donor base less than half thesize of the Liberals.

Donations to political parties are heavily subsidized throughgenerous tax breaks that cost the federal treasury more than $20million a year although a public per-vote subsidy was eliminatedby the previous Conservative government.