© Provided by Oath Inc. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is pictured with Parliament Hill in the background in Ottawa on Oct. 10, 2019.

© Provided by Oath Inc. Jenica Atwin, the new Green MP in Fredericton, celebrates her election night win at her victory party in Fredericton on Oct. 21, 2019.

Thomason received six per cent of the vote, which doesn’t qualify his campaign for partial repayment of campaign expenses. He said he didn’t ask the federal party for financial help because he knew the NDP didn’t have a strong shot at winning the riding. “In my mind, the money that needed to be spent, needed to be spent in places where the NDP was going to do much better,” he said. Parties are no longer eligible for a per-vote subsidy, which was axed by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government before the 2015 election. The subsidy gave major parties obvious financial advantages, providing multi-million dollar boosts according to the number of votes cast in the party’s favour. A report from the parliamentary budget officer last year estimated if the Jean Chretien-era subsidy were to be brought back, it would cost at least $45 million annually for four years. The NDP didn’t fare well. The party won just 24 seats on election night, well short of the 39 the party had before Parliament was dissolved. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters in Ottawa Wednesday that he wasn’t happy with the election results, saying he won’t be satisfied until his party forms government. Singh’s answer was short when he was asked if his party is in a financial situation to be able to sustain a hypothetical campaign if an election is called in the near future.

“We’re in a good financial situation. We had great results out of the campaign,” he said. The NDP headed into the election in a precarious financial situation. The party started 2019 in the red, with balance sheets showing $4.5 million in negative net assets, according to Elections Canada. The Toronto Star reported the party mortgaged the building that houses its party headquarters in downtown Ottawa for $12 million earlier this year to bootstrap the campaign. Fundraising levels also haven’t been inspiring. According to financial returns to Elections Canada, Conservatives raised the most money in the third quarter right before the election, collecting $10.1 million from 62,000 donors. Liberals pulled in $7.3 million during the same period from 53,000 donors. The NDP raised $2.65 million from approximately 21,000 contributors in the third quarter. To put that figure into perspective, the party raised $9.1 million in the same quarter before the 2015 election. The NDP’s outgoing national director said the party is exceeding expectations in other areas. Bruno said the party raised approximately $2 million during the 40-day campaign. The fundraising results “probably doubled” internal fundraising targets the party set, she said.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost Canada