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By Althia Raj

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government will move quickly to cut the financial legs of its political opponents by moving to end the per-vote party subsidy in its June budget, Postmedia News has learned.

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“We want political parties to raise funds directly from their supporters and not the taxpayers. So as soon as we can get that passed, that process will begin,” Democratic Reform Minister Tim Uppal told Postmedia news.

Uppal said he couldn’t discuss whether the government planned a weaning off process for political parties. He said ministers were “still finalizing all these things.”A government source, however, said there would be a phasing out process ending the subsidy over time.

Political parties currently receive $2 annually for every vote they received in the last federal election. Payments for the next quarter, which include the May 2 election, are due on July 1st.