Jagmeet Singh leads NDP leadership fundraising figures in 2nd quarter

Ontario deputy NDP leader Jagmeet Singh launches his bid for the federal NDP leadership in Brampton, Ont., on Monday, May 15, 2017. (Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -- Jagmeet Singh was last to enter the federal NDP leadership race, but he's first in fundraising.

Financial reports filed with Elections Canada for the second quarter of 2017 indicate that the Ontario MPP has pulled in $353,944 since joining the race to replace Tom Mulcair in mid-May.

Northern Ontario MP Charlie Angus raised $123,574 between April 1 and June 30.

During the same period, Manitoba MP Niki Ashton raised $70,124, while Quebec MP Guy Caron raised $46,970.

British Columbia MP Peter Julian, who dropped out of the race in early July, raised $28,673.

In an email blast to supporters, Singh's campaign boasted that he raised more than $350,000 in just 47 days -- 30 days less than it took Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to raise the same amount during the 2013 Liberal leadership race and 77 days less than it took Andrew Scheer during the recent Conservative contest.

"In just 47 days we built a truly nationwide operation that shows how a Jagmeet-led NDP will take on the Liberals and Conservatives," the email said.

Voting in the NDP contest begins in September, with results to be announced in October.

In all, the leadership contestants raised $643,285.

That's on top of the $826,664 raised by the NDP, which continues to trail well behind the two main federal parties in fundraising.

The Conservatives again topped the charts, raking in $4.1 million from almost 32,500 individuals in the second quarter of the year. Candidates in the Conservative leadership race, which ended in late May with the election of Scheer, raised an additional $1.9 million.

The Liberals pulled in just over $3 million from slightly more than 30,000 donors -- closing the gap somewhat with the Tories who raised almost twice as much as the ruling party during the first quarter of 2017.

Liberals explained their dismal first quarter results by pointing to the fact that the party froze fundraising events featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers until new rules could be put into effect requiring such events to be more open and transparent.

While Liberal fundraising improved in the second quarter, party spokesman Braeden Caley said both the Conservatives and NDP saw their money hauls decline from the first quarter, even though they "continued to organize their fundraising events in secret."

Caley argued that "the real story" in the second quarter results is that "Andrew Scheer hasn't provided any boost whatsoever to the Conservative party's fundraising program."