Yukoners can now take a peek behind the fundraising curtain of the territory’s political parties.
On Sept. 2 Elections Yukon, who operate territorial elections, not the ongoing federal election, released the annual list of contributions made to political parties in the year 2020.
The document reports revenue from the registered territorial parties: the Yukon NDP, Yukon Party, Yukon Liberals and Yukon Green Party.
“Finance regulation and proactive disclosure requirements, such as the Annual Review Returns, are designed to ensure political financing is fair and transparent,” said Maxwell Harvey, Chief Electoral Officer, in a statement.
The Greens did not report any fundraising revenues in 2020.
The success of the other parties varied, particularly compared to the previous year in 2019.
The Yukon Party raised the most money in 2020, at $176,031. That was raised from 181 donors and was almost triple the amount of funds raised in the previous year. Top donors were Midnight Sun Drilling, who contributed $10,000, Pelly Construction at $800 and Edmonton-based CAP Management Services who donated $5,000.
The Yukon New Democratic Party had the highest number of individual donors — they had 509 donations. They also nearly doubled their revenue, ending the year with $91,163 raised. Top donors were Skeeter Wright, Robin Steudel and Max Fraser, who all donated over $1,000 to the party.
The Yukon Liberal party reported $69,163 in annual revenues and 102 individual contributors. Top donors were Premier Sandy Silver, who contributed $8,560, followed by Jason Cunning and a number of the party’s elected MLAs who donated around $1,000 to $1,500 each.
Registered political parties are required to file their total revenues on or before the last day in March each year.
Total revenues include all direct contributions, both monetary and in-kind, and the total of all other revenues. Donations of over $50 are included in the report but only those who contribute over $250 are named.
For the calendar year 2020, there were 771 monetary or in-kind contributions totaling $337,047.
“In a democracy, fundraising is an important element in a political party’s ability to organize, conduct outreach to electors, and run campaigns. It is also an opportunity for electors to support political organizations,” said Harvey.
Election period financial reporting for the most recent election on April 12 is separate from the Annual Revenue Returns. These election-specific filings by political parties will be released as part of the Chief Electoral Officer’s report to the Legislative Assembly later this fall.
Contact Haley Ritchie at haley.ritchie@yukon-news.com
