Finance executives help Canada's Conservatives crush Trudeau at the money game
BNN Bloomberg
Canada’s corporate titans are helping the country’s Conservative Party build a financial war chest to oust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as frustration grows among business leaders about the country’s economic performance.
The Conservatives have raised $2.45 in donations for every $1 Trudeau’s Liberal Party has pulled in since the start of last year. Their support base is broad, but the donor lists include a roll call of executives from the upper echelons of Canadian finance and business — including telecommunications billionaire Edward Rogers, private equity executive Paul Desmarais III and Dan Daviau, head of brokerage firm Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.
Political-party filings underscore how Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has cemented a huge financial advantage ahead of an election that’s due in 2025. Polls suggest he’s the favourite to win.
A cabinet minister under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper who’s spent most of his adult life in politics, Poilievre, 44, became leader of the Conservatives in September 2022. Since then, he has relentlessly attacked Trudeau over taxes, budget deficits and the cost of housing, tapping into voters’ fatigue with the prime minister after more than eight years in power.
