Convoy donors gave more than $460K to CPC leadership race — and many were first-time federal donors

Canadians who donated to the Ottawa convoy protest contributed more than $460,000 to Conservative leadership candidates — and many of them were donating to a federal political party for the first time — an analysis by CBC News shows.

A comparison of donations to Conservative leadership contenders up to Aug. 1 with the GiveSendGo crowdfunding campaign for the convoy protest found over 3,100 people who contributed to both campaigns, based on identical combinations of names and postal codes.

The lion's share of convoy donors' leadership campaign donations went to Pierre Poilievre's campaign.

The actual number of people who contributed both to the convoy and to Conservative leadership candidates could be higher. CBC News' data-matching formula did not list those with slight differences in their names or postal codes as having donated to both campaigns. And some convoy donors may have contributed to a leadership campaign after July, the latest month for which data is available.

University of Alberta political science professor Jared Wesley said people involved in protest movements often get involved in politics.

"People that are engaged will do both," he said. "So, yeah, it is possible that the convoy is bringing people into electoral politics for the first time."

While the number of people involved is small, Wesley said it's "a lot more" than he would have expected and is in keeping with his own polling and research.

CBC's analysis found that convoy donors made up 4.2 per cent of the approximately 74,000 people who contributed to Conservative leadership candidates before August. Their donations represent 3.8 per cent of the $12.2 million in contributions made before Aug. 1.

Poilievre received over 70 per cent of the money contributed by convoy donors. Leslyn Lewis received 16 per cent of that money, while  Roman Baber collected 12 per cent.

Jean Charest, who sharply criticized Poilievre for supporting the convoy protest, received contributions from two convoy donors, while Scott Aitchison received 13.

Only one other political party — the People's Party of Canada (PPC) — drew significant support from convoy donors over the first two quarters of this year. The PPC received money from about 60 convoy donors.

The Liberals received only one donation from a name matching one on the convoy donors list, as did the Greens. Neither the Bloc Québécois nor the NDP received donations from any name matching one on the convoy donors list.

Support from convoy donors represented only a small portion of CPC leadership candidates' overall support — roughly five per cent for Poilievre and Lewis, just over eight per cent for Baber.

Poilievre took in about 55 per cent of the total CPC leadership donations but over 70 per cent of the money from convoy donors. Charest took in about a fifth of the overall fundraising but essentially collected nothing from convoy donors.