Liberal leadership race raises questions about possible fundraising 'loophole'

The Peace Tower on Parliament Hill is seen in Ottawa on March 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA — Only two of the candidates in the Liberal leadership race — Mark Carney and Ruby Dhalla — disclosed their fundraising events to Elections Canada.

A political transparency advocate says this exposes a “loophole” in the rules for funding political campaigns that needs to be closed — since some of the contenders held fundraisers without publicly disclosing them or reporting who attended.

Carney reported eight fundraisers to Elections Canada over the course of the two-month race, while Dhalla — whom the party eventually kicked out of the race — disclosed one.

But Chrystia Freeland — who held several fundraiser events during the race — and candidates Frank Baylis and Karina Gould did not add any information to the public disclosure list.

Leadership candidates and political parties must disclose their fundraisers in advance if they meet certain conditions — if, for example, at least one person had to pay more than $200 to attend a fundraiser. If they break the disclosure rule, they have to return the money.

A fundraiser Freeland held on Feb. 10 listed on Eventbrite in Toronto’s Etobicoke area only states that the “recommended donation amount” was between $500 and $1,750.

“This is a loophole that allows someone to go and lobby (candidates) without it being disclosed,” said Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch.

He said the public has a right to know who is organizing, holding and paying to attend fundraising events so that access to politicians through donations can be tracked. He said this prevents the appearance of a conflict of interest from “tainting politicians’ policy-making decisions.”

The Liberal government passed Bill C-50 in 2018 that ushered in the fundraiser disclosure requirements, in response to a wave of criticism of opaque, pricey fundraisers featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other cabinet ministers.

“The whole reason for the act was to be tracking fundraising events and who’s attending,” Conacher said.

Ottawa-based lawyer Scott Thurlow, an expert in Canadian elections law, said he wouldn’t describe this as a “loophole” since the rules were designed this way.

“Parliament’s made a deliberate decision to do that,” he said. “If one person pays $200, then they have to enumerate the contributors who do so.”

The rules state that parties and candidates have a month after holding a fundraiser that counts as a regulated event to disclose the names of those who attended. A fundraiser is also considered a regulated event if it’s attended by prominent people such as leadership candidates, party leaders or cabinet ministers.

“I don’t think there’s anyone who’s breaking any rules here,” Thurlow said.

Freeland’s campaign spokesperson Katherine Cuplinskas said the campaign “followed all rules set out” by the party and Elections Canada.

The Baylis campaign held dozens events in B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, but did not officially make any of them fundraisers.

“All our events throughout the campaign were non-ticketed events,” said Baylis campaign spokesperson Justin McIntyre. “Supporters could attend on their own terms, making a donation if they chose to do so.”

Gould’s campaign has said previously she did not hold any fundraiser events; it did not offer a comment on Monday.

Gould was the democratic institutions minister who shepherded Bill C-50 through Parliament.

Carney’s campaign has posted one report so far that lists those who attended a fundraiser held in Ottawa on Feb. 6. They included several prominent Liberal lobbyists and residents of Ottawa’s posh Rockcliffe area, along with former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty.

Carney’s next fundraising report, for an event held in Vancouver, B.C., will have to be disclosed a few days from now.

Sachit Mehra, the Liberal party’s president, said Sunday evening that the party has just experienced its greatest first quarter “grassroots” fundraising result ever — and the reporting period hadn’t even closed yet.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2025.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press