The Conservative Party has to look beyond Canada’s traditional political financing system and start getting companies and groups to spend on its behalf if it wants to remain competitive, says one of the architects of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s early campaign victories.

Tom Flanagan, a political scientist and former Conservative organizer, said Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are catching up to the Conservatives on traditional fundraising and groups supporting left wing parties – particularly unions – are ahead of the Conservatives in thinking outside the electoral box.

“I’m a little bit worried now because the parties are bounded by legislation and they’ve got spending limits – quite strict during the writ period – and there are various restrictions on how they can raise money,” Flanagan said during a Manning Centre workshop on fundraising.

However, groups that support the Conservatives don’t have the same restrictions as political parties – particularly outside the election writ period, Flanagan pointed out.

“I think the next step for conservatives and people in Conservative parties is to get outside the party and start outsourcing political functions, kind of like American political action committees. In the United States now, so much of voter contact is done by non-party entities, opposition research has been outsourced to non-party entities.”

“Once the Conservatives and Liberals are basically tied in party fundraising then the competition is going to be to start raising money outside the political party that can be used for allied political purposes.”

Among the groups currently doing that are the conservative Manning Centre and its left-wing counterpart, the Broadbent Institute. Both function on money raised outside the framework of Canada’s political financing rules and provide training to prospective candidates and organizers – something that was once primarily funded through political parties.

Unlike their U.S. counterparts, Canada’s federal political parties and candidates face strict limitations when it comes to seeking donations and spending money in election campaigns. Under rules brought in under former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, only individuals can donate to political parties or candidates – not groups like businesses or unions.

But while spending by third parties is restricted during election campaigns – something Stephen Harper once challenged in court – there are no restrictions outside the writ period.

“The next big front will be spending outside the writ period by entities that are not political parties and they will be paving the way for the election,” Flanagan said in an interview with iPolitics. “The unions are the pioneers on this and Conservatives have to play catch up.”

Among the groups Conservatives can tap are businesses, which haven’t been under any pressure to contribute financially to the political process since direct donations were outlawed, he said.

Flanagan said unions in Ontario have “hijacked the electoral process” and have been spending more on advertising than any political party.

“The result has been four Liberal victories in a row. The pattern is the same – every Conservative leader gets destroyed by negative ads then the mainstream media report that the Conservative leader is terrible. How did that happen? Well, it’s because unions spent five or $10 million attacking the Conservative leader.”

Flanagan said unions in Alberta actively worked against the Wildrose Party in the last election.

With unions poised to do the same thing federally, now is not the time for Conservatives to rest on their laurels and their traditional sources of funding, he advised.

“Conservatives are going to get their clocks cleaned unless they take new steps in fundraising. They have become complacent with the success of the federal party – which is terrific for Conservatives – but the Liberals are closing the gap very rapidly and you have to be prepared to fight the next battles.”

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