A comparison of donations to Conservative leadership candidates through August 1 with the GiveSendGo crowdfunding campaign for the convoy protest found more than 3,100 people who contributed to both campaigns, based on identical combinations of names and zip codes. The lion’s share of the donations of the leading campaign of convoy sponsors went to the campaign of Pierre Poilievre. The actual number of people who contributed to both the convoy and Conservative leadership candidates could be higher. CBC News’ data matching formula did not list those with slight differences in names or zip codes as donating to both campaigns. And some escort 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 who participate in protest movements often become involved in politics. “The committed will do both,” he said. “So, yes, it’s possible that the escort is bringing people into electoral politics for the first time.” Although the number of people involved is small, Wesley said it is “a lot more” than he would have expected and is consistent with his own polling and research. The CBC analysis found that escort donors made up 4.2 per cent of the roughly 74,000 people who contributed to Conservative leadership candidates before August. Their donations represent 3.8 percent of the $12.2 million in contributions made before Aug. 1. Poilievre received more than 70 percent of the money contributed by escort sponsors. Leslyn Lewis received 16% of that money, while Roman Baber received 12%. Jean Charest, who heavily criticized Poilievre for supporting the convoy protest, received contributions from two convoy sponsors, while Scott Aitchison received 13. Only one other political party — the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) — garnered significant support from escort sponsors during the first two quarters of this year. PPC received money from about 60 convoy donors. The Liberals received only one donation from a name matching one on the convoy donor list, as did the Greens. Neither the Bloc Québécois nor the NDP received donations from any name matching that on the escort donor list. Support from escort donors represented only a small portion of the total support of the CPC leadership candidates — about 5 percent for Poilievre and Lewis, just over 8 percent for Baber. Poilievre received about 55 percent of total CPC leadership donations, but more than 70 percent of the money from entourage sponsors. Charest took in about a fifth of the total fundraising, but raised virtually nothing from escort sponsors. Conservative leadership candidates (left to right) Pierre Poilievre, Roman Baber, Leslyn Lewis, Jean Charest and Scott Aitchison. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press) The analysis also found that the convoy protest appears to have mobilized a number of Canadians who were not very active in federal politics to contribute to the Conservative leadership campaign – something that could be a factor in Canadian politics going forward. A closer look at 50 of the entourage’s top donors who also donated to a leadership candidate shows that 25 of them have no prior history of donating to any federal political party or candidate in Elections Canada’s contribution database, which dates back to 2004. Of those 25 escort donors, 22 donated to Poilievre, two to Lewis, and one sent money to Baber. Eleven of those 25 new donors are from BC, eight from Ontario, four from Alberta, one from Nova Scotia and one from Saskatchewan.
Increasing political engagement
A search of federal political donations by escort donors since 2015 shows that the CPC leadership contest was by far their most active moment in federal politics in terms of donations. Outside of leadership races, only a few hundred escort donors have donated in any given year since 2015. More were active in Conservative leadership contests — but even the 2020 leadership contest drew less than half the number of donations from those who eventually would contribute to the convoy than the 2022 match from convoy donors. Jamie Ellerton, a spokesman for Aitchison’s campaign, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s divisive rhetoric and the politicization of vaccine mandates have spurred some people into action. “I’m not surprised that those who took part in a grassroots protest tried to get involved with a political party to help see the change they want to take place,” he said. Other leadership campaigns declined to comment or did not respond to interview requests. The lion’s share of the convoy sponsors’ leadership campaign donations went to Pierre Poilievre. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press) One of those spurred to action by the federal government’s handling of the pandemic is Kevin Blackman. Prince Rupert, BC businessman. contributed $1,000 to the convoy protest and $550 to Poilievre’s campaign. He said his donation to Poilievre is the first he can remember making to a federal political party or candidate. “I listened to a lot of his YouTube comments that he made in the House, so I could relate to the guy and I thought he’s going to stand up to this regime, which is crazy and so dictatorial,” Blackman told the CBC. News. “Human rights have been flushed down the toilet.” Blackman said he agreed with the truck protesters’ argument that the government’s COVID-19 orders were not based on science. “They were peaceful and I was very happy to support a peaceful protest,” he said. “And I think we still have the right to protest.” Blackman said he would like Poilievre to focus on fiscal responsibility. “I’d like to see him have a minimalist government and try not to overtax the people who produce,” he said. Holden Rhodes said he contributed to both the convoy protest and Pierre Pouliev’s campaign because he strongly believes in personal rights and freedoms. (Erik White/CBC) London, Ont. Businessman Holden Rhodes contributed $25,000 to the convoy protest and $1,675 to Poilievre’s campaign. He said he strongly believes in personal rights and freedoms. “These rights and freedoms are enshrined in the Canadian Charter, yet they have been trampled upon, violated and abrogated by governments at all levels in the most appalling way over the past two and a half years,” Rhodes said in an email. Rhodes said he supported the march because it was made up of grassroots truckers and Canadians from all walks of life who froze in the middle of winter to stand up for their rights. “It was so refreshing to see my fellow citizens showing the government in a very visceral way that they were tired of government excess and abuse,” he said. Rhodes said he donated to Poilievre because of his positions. “He believes in the same things I do, free speech and other freedoms, promoting a healthy lifestyle, education, family, individual rights, and reducing government and those who stand in the way of positive development, to name a few some,” he said. Eric Merkley, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said a major challenge for parties or candidates who can activate young voters is getting them to return for a second election. “You might get out the first time, but how are you going to get them out the next time?” he said. “Especially when you take away things like the pandemic.” University of Toronto political science professor Chris Cochran said it’s important to note that escort donors were comfortable with the support of front-runner and eventual winner Poiliev. “It doesn’t just appeal to what … many would call a fringe element of Canadian politics,” he said. “It appeals to the mainstream of the Conservative Party and also to that narrower element of Canadian politics.” University of Alberta professor Jared Wesley says a Conservative government could find it difficult to meet the expectations of donors who contributed to both the convoy and the KKK leadership race. (Jared Wesley) Wesley said a future challenge for a Poilievre government would be to meet the expectations of the people who contributed to both the entourage and the leadership race. “Will they really be able to live up to those expectations? And if not, then what will happen?” he said. “Where are these people going, right? “One hopes it won’t turn to insurgency, but that’s what happened south of the border.”
