The NDP, in particular, counted less than $300,000 in cash in its most recent audited financial statements. At the close of 2023, the party had cash assets of just $289,808.
This is the exact opposite of the Conservatives, who are sitting on more money than they could ever legally spend in a campaign. Their cash reserves at the end of 2023 stood at $16,197,685.
In a social media post this week, Abacus Data CEO David Coletto said the contrasting cash reserves of the major parties were a clue as to “the dynamics of (Canadian politics) today and the likelihood of an election.”
Writer Alex Zoltan also took note of the bare cupboards at the NDP in a widely circulated X.com thread. Zoltan attributed it back to the party funding a massive advertising blitz in the 2021 election that yielded virtually no gains (the NDP caucus grew by just one seat on election day). “It was a giant financial risk that failed to pay off and now we’re all paying for it,” he wrote.
In a full-scale federal election campaign, $289,808 would barely be enough to cover the travel expenses of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, much less afford the resources needed to coordinate 343 candidates across six time zones.
The party was so financially unprepared for the snap 2021 election that it had to take out a $20 million loan that it has only now come close to paying off. At the party’s national convention in February, party officials said they only had $2 million left outstanding on the 2021 loan.
