In a Two-Month Liberal Leadership Race, Mark Carney Rallies $4.5 Million in Funding

Mark Carney’s leadership campaign has raised an impressive $4.5 million during the short two-month race within the Liberal party to replace outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

All indications suggest that the former governor of the Bank of Canada is in a significant lead, with a large portion of the Liberal cabinet and caucus endorsing him as he dominates in polls and fundraising.

According to his spokesperson Emily Williams, the campaign received contributions from over 20,000 Canadians, making it the fastest fundraising leadership campaign in Canadian history. No other candidate in the race has reached seven figures.

The Liberals will elect their next leader on Sunday, with campaigns making their final efforts to mobilize voters across the country and motivate volunteers.

Carney, along with former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, former government House leader Karina Gould, and former MP Frank Baylis, are all vying to lead the party in the upcoming election.

An internal memo from Freeland’s campaign manager Tom Allison, obtained by The Canadian Press, emphasized the pivotal nature of the current phase of the race and the need to remain vigilant.

“We’re feeling great energy from Liberals for our fantastic, battle-tested candidate. This has been an uphill sprint for us: we started in January while some of our competitors have been organizing for over two and a half years,” said Allison.

The campaign is focusing on ridings traditionally not held by the Liberals to maximize Freeland’s voter support in the final push.

Freeland has raised more than $750,000 from over 3,000 donors, excluding funds from the entrance fee.

Elections Canada data released Friday indicates that Freeland, Gould, and Baylis have fundraised around $360,000, but they argue that these figures are not entirely accurate as they do not include funds earmarked for the steep $350,000 entry fee.

Gould’s campaign reported a fundraising total of approximately $450,000, excluding the entry fee.

She spent the week engaging with voters through virtual town halls across different regions.

Baylis’s supporters are making efforts to showcase their candidate in the final days of the race. He recently met with the Sikh community in Surrey, B.C.

“The fact that the campaign has been so short has made it difficult for us because the more time passes, the more people are discovering Frank and reaching out to us and showing us their support,” said Baylis spokesperson Justine McIntyre.

The campaigns have also been assisting supporters with a complicated voter identity verification process, utilizing the Canada Post Identity+ app that may require multiple attempts to register.

Liberal party spokesperson Parker Lund mentioned that as of late Friday, 157,000 members have completed identity verification and 134,000 have cast their votes.

Voting will conclude at 3 p.m. on Sunday, with the winner expected to be announced in the evening. The newly elected leader could be sworn in as prime minister within days.