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“The Conservatives have been very good at adjusting to these changes. They’ve gone after various constituencies [of voters], like gun owners.”

The per-vote subsidy was valuable for levelling the playing field for political parties, he said, by ensuring parties weren’t just financed by wealthier Canadians who can afford to donate more dollars and more often.

The subsidy paid about $2 per vote to political parties (costing taxpayers $28.7-million) in 2011 when the government announced it was being phased out, and has slowly come down to about 50 cents per vote in its final year of payment.

While the subsidy stuffed millions of dollars into political party coffers, Green party Leader Elizabeth May said it has also encouraged turnout at the polls, because electors knew their votes were worth something to the parties they supported.

“There’s a disincentive to vote,” she said.

Federal parties are also collecting millions of dollars in donations that, because of the federal political tax credit, give Canadians a 75% credit on donations of $400 or less. That means Canadians could donate $400 to a political party, but it would only cost them $100 after receiving the credit.

The political contribution tax credit has cost the federal treasury more than $250-million over the last decade.

Canada’s federal parties have been highlighting the political contribution tax credit in repeated emails to supporters and using it as an incentive to get donations.

“The Conservatives have sold this reduction of the party subsidy as some great removal of public funding from the system, which is just not true,” Mr. MacDermid said.

Elections Canada also reimburses federal political parties 50% of their paid campaign election expenses if they receive at least 2% of the valid votes nationally, or 5% of votes cast in electoral districts where they field candidates.

As well, individual party candidates can be reimbursed up to 60% of the election expense limits established for the riding, if they receive at least 10% of the valid votes.

Postmedia News