That’s how much money has been trimmed from the Liberal Party’s research budget by the House of Commons. This is on top of the 1.6-million the Liberal’s will lose as a result of the drop in votes compared to the last election.
According to the Toronto Star:
The parliamentary funding is determined after every election by the number of seats each party wins – and the Liberal loss of 26 MPs compared with the 2006 election is already taking effect.
The drop in funding will mean job cuts for junior staffers, but more significantly it will further hamper the party’s effort to take on the Conservative government in the coming months, said NDP whip Yvon Godin.
“You know a million dollars makes a big difference,” said Godin, whose party had previously increased its parliamentary resources with the addition of eight new MPs in the 2006 election.
“If you’re going to be an effective Opposition, the more people you have to support you on research, on communication, to prepare the leader, to prepare the members of Parliament, it’s a help to everybody,” said Godin.
In fact, along with cuts to the House Leader’s office, the Whip’s office and the Liberal Research Bureau the Party Leader’s office will suffer a budget cut of $700,000. That means whoever replaces Stephane Dion will have a significantly reduced budget for research, staffers, and general workings on the hill.
It seems the ‘big red machine’ is in need of some serious work if Liberals don’t want to follow some other, and much lesser known, parties into the dustbin. Ironically, their troubles are self-made. Jean Chretien’s changes to donation rules froze out corporate donors, the same deep corporate pockets that the Liberals depended on for donations.
Under Paul Martin the Liberals slipped first into minority government, then onto the opposition benches. Further changes to donation laws in January of 2007 meant no more corporate donations. All donations must now come from individuals and if the Liberals have shown one thing its they don’t like to put their money where their mouth is. Then again, no one likes to bet on a losing horse.
Now, with a staggering debt load, including debt still hanging around from their non-leadership convention, the Liberals find themselves short $2.6-million in taxpayer funds as a result of their election losses.
With virtually non-existent donations, a significantly smaller allowance, and no leader one wonders how exactly the good ship Liberal will stay afloat.
- Rafael.
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