Chong topped all candidates in election expenses, donations

It costs big money to win an election-- and even to come in second-- or so it would seem by the expenses filed recently by the Wellington-Halton Hills candidates in the last federal election. Expenditures by the six candidates in the election ranged from $73,993 by Conservative MP Michael Chong to $1,102 by Green Party candidate Brent Bouteiller. Liberal candidate Rod Finnie, who finished second in the January election, spent $55,600. According to financial reports filed with Elections Canada, Chong, now a minister in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet, spent nearly $48,000 on advertising. He handily won the fight for individual donations with $35,500 and for corporate donations, with $8,220. Liberal candidate Rod Finnie spent nearly $26,000 on advertising. Finnie received nearly $25,000 in individual donations and $6,850 in corporate donations. Third-place finisher and NDP candidate Noel Duignan's election expenses were considerably less at nearly $5,500. Duignan spent more than $3,900 on advertising and received $2,860 in individual donations and only $400 from corporations. Carol Ann Krusky of the Christian Heritage Party finished fifth and spent $4,944 during the campaign, nearly all of it on advertising-- $4,858. She received $3,829 from individuals and $250 in corporate contributions. Independent candidate Mike Wisniewski, who finished last, spent $1,174 in the campaign. He received only two recorded contributions, both from his father, totaling $1,100. Bouteiller of the Green Party, who finished fourth, spent the least in the campaign-- $1,102. He received $1,135 in individual contributions and $100 in corporate donations.