Wildrose Alliance leader Danielle Smith in a scrum last month.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Last year was a good one for Alberta's Wildrose Alliance - the upstart party elected a charismatic leader and won its first by-election - but the momentum wasn't enough for it to match the fundraising power of the party it's aiming to dethrone.
In fundraising totals filed with Elections Alberta this week, the Progressive Conservatives reported revenues of a whopping $2,784,851 in 2009. Wildrose came in at $694,621 - just behind the Liberal Party's $768,858 and ahead of the New Democrats' $681,423.
The PCs now sit with $4-million in the bank, about 20 times the war chest of Wildrose, and the PC's 2009 surplus was more than $400,000, doubling the total of its year before.
"Money talks, and money talks big. For those who are listening, this is an endorsement of [Premier Ed]Stelmach where it counts - in the wallet," said David Taras, a communications and culture professor at the University of Calgary who had expected to see PC donations drop. "I think it's a great news story for Stelmach, because you need money to fight elections and he has money to do it."
The PCs were pleased with the totals, which came in a week where the Premier was forced to deal with a scathing letter from one of his riding associations criticizing his leadership, as well as a report that his own brother-in-law had joined the Wildrose Alliance. They also praised the generosity of supporters during the economic downturn.
"We all know that 2009 was a difficult year, but the encouragement offered to the PC Party … is most appreciated," said party president Bill Smith.
However, newly hired Wildrose Alliance executive director Vitor Marciano said the party tripled its earnings over its totals in 2008, which was its inaugural year, and hopes to reach another level in 2010.
"We're off to a very good start," he said. "We expect that [2009]number to grow significantly.… I think they're [the PCs]going to have a tougher time raising money this year than they did last. I think we're going to have an easier time raising money. I still think when push comes to shove, when it comes to an election, they'll outspend us. But I don't think that'll make a difference."
Mr. Marciano has good reason to be confident. Public opinion polls consistently place his Wildrose Alliance well ahead of the PCs provincially, particularly since the election of their leader, the charismatic Danielle Smith.
Prof. Taras expects to see some funding support drift to the Wildrose Alliance, though critics charge the party hasn't released any firm proposals or specific policy suggestions.
"People aren't hedging their bets yet. I think 2010 might be very different than 2009, though," Prof. Taras said.
While the two right-leaning parties try to out-earn each other, it's a different story with the Liberals and NDP. The Liberals took in about $100,000 less than the year earlier, but Liberal president Tony Sansotta said he was pleased with the total. He dismissed a blog report from a former Liberal this week that said he had asked party Leader David Swann to resign as "totally without merit."
His party's 2009 fundraising drop was largely due to a spike in 2008 fundraising, which included a party leadership convention and election, he said. "To come back with three quarters of a million dollars is pretty significant for us," he said.
The party has now retired nearly all of its debt, a process it expects to complete by next month. The Liberals are not worried about the fundraising totals achieved by the Alliance, which now commands a profile rivalling that of the official opposition. Mr. Sansotta dismissed Ms. Smith, the Wildrose leader, as "a pretty face."
"Not really [concerned] I would think the Conservatives would be more concerned with the numbers WIldrose is getting," Mr. Sansotta said. "I think the challenges are going to be there for [Wildrose] The Conservatives are not going to give up on their fundraising efforts. We're not going to give up on ours. And as much as Danielle's a pretty face, the Wildrose Alliance doesn't have any policies just yet."
Parties were also required to release their donor lists. The PC list reads as a who's who of corporate Alberta, and includes major oil companies such as Syncrude and Suncor, media companies such as the Calgary Sun, CTV and Rogers Communications, the Calgary Flames hockey club, breweries, banks, WestJet and a casino. It also includes a slew of individual donors. Wildrose's donors are mostly private citizens and small energy companies.