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POLITICS BRIEFING

By Jane Taber (@JaneTaber1)

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The Conservatives may have lost the election but they're still a threat to Justin Trudeau's Liberals when it comes to fundraising – and the Grits say they're worried the Tories will use their bulging war chest to launch attack ads.

In a fundraising e-mail sent this week to supporters, the Liberal Party's acting national director Christina Topp wrote, "It's hard to believe, but the Conservatives are poised to out-raise us – which means attacks ads and smear politics could be back. Yuck, right?!"

The Liberal's latest appeal is for $1-million by Dec. 15. "That's the big hairy number I've just circled on my office wall," writes Ms. Topp. "It's also how much we have to raise by midnight on December 15 just to stay competitive with the Conservatives this quarter."

The Tories are masters at raising funds through focused appeals on issues, including concern about reports from the so-called left-leaning media, to their base.

Meanwhile, the Liberal e-mail includes a picture of Ms. Topp writing on a wall with a big marker, and she has left space on her wall to write the names of donors. Last week, she noted that 3,856 supporters gave $244,458.

To add incentive, a supporter giving $150 receives a "stylish Liberal headphones" and someone who contributes $250 receives a cookie cutter that looks like Prime Minister Trudeau.

Earlier, the Liberals dropped a fundraising scheme in which they offered a dinner with Finance Minister Bill Morneau after the ethics commissioner decided to take a look at it, according to the CBC.

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The Tories aren't commenting on how well they're doing now that they're out of government, but party spokesman Cory Hann noted that in the third quarter – July, August and September, which included much of the election campaign – the Conservatives raised more money than any other political party in Canadian history. They raised $10,082,104 from 63,177 donors.

The Liberals raised the least amount of the three parties during that third quarter – $7.3-million compared to $9.1-million for the NDP. The fourth quarter results will be released at the end of January.

As for using those taxpayers' dollars for attack ads – "I think the Liberals are their own attack ad these days," says Mr. Hann. "With the debt they're piling on, the ethical breaches adding up, they don't need our help right now."

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS MORNING

By Chris Hannay (@channay)

> The first plane of Syrian refugees will land in Toronto tonight, followed by one landing in Montreal on Saturday.

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> Why are the Liberals now saying their tax reforms aren't revenue-neutral? They may have had trouble estimating how higher taxes affect the behaviour of high-income earners.

> "I understand that there are racists in my police force, I don't want them to be in my police force," RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson told a gathering of chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations.

> B.C. says it will not meet its legislated targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, but Christy Clark is awaiting new national targets from the federal Liberals.

> And Vogue has written a glowing profile of Justin Trudeau. BuzzFeed Canada asks: can you tell the difference between the Vogue profile and a piece of erotica?

SECUREDROP

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WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT

"Democracy belongs to the people, not political parties. Parties are necessary creations for structuring democratic debate. One or more of them forms a government after elections that, in turn, belong to the people, not the parties. Get that principle straight – democracy and elections belong to the people and not political parties – and the danger becomes apparent in the way the Liberal government proposes to change the federal election system."

– Jeffrey Simpson (for subscribers) on changing how elections run.

Annette Trimbee and Wab Kinew (Globe and Mail): "Every university in Canada should mandate indigenous content. Why? To borrow a phrase from our Prime Minister, 'Because it's 2015.'"

Paul Koring (Globe and Mail): "In the United States, the system is so heavily stacked against candidates from the fringes – both left and right – of the political spectrum that they almost can't win." (for subscribers)

Andrew Jackson (Globe and Mail): "Now that a big hole has appeared in the federal books, according to both the Department of Finance and the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), the Liberals will be forced to choose between incompatible promises." (for subscribers)

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John Ibbitson (Globe and Mail): "There are land mines ahead, but if Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Obama can defuse – or at least step around – them, Canada-U.S. relations are set to enter a golden age not seen since the days when Jean Chrétien and Bill Clinton played golf together while running North America."

This newsletter is produced by Chris Hannay and Evan Annett.

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