Assahafa.com
The NDP has been given a financial shot in the arm after getting its parliamentary funding reinstated by the committee that doles out cash for House of Commons operations.
The New Democrats will receive $669,780 this fiscal year, money NDP parliamentary leader Don Davies said will be primarily used to hire new staff.
“It will be significant,” Davies said. “Having the parties able to function properly is good for Parliament and important for the Canadian voters who sent us here.”
The change, first reported by Politico, comes after the Board of Internal Economy, a committee comprised of Liberal, Conservative and Bloc MPs, decided to change its allocation formula and lower the required minimum seat count to get funding.
The NDP previously lost access to that pot of money — which parties use to pay for staff, office needs, research and more — after losing recognized party status in last spring’s election. (Official status is set at 12 MPs.)
The new threshold to receive the funding is set at six seats, based on party representation immediately following an election.
“We elected seven MPs, so the money is based on that and will remain stable for the life of the Parliament,” Davies said.
He said the agreement is only for this current parliamentary session. The money already started flowing on March 26, Davies said.
Until now, the NDP had been relying on the budgets of its six individual MPs.
Winning only seven seats in the 2025 election — short of the 12 needed for official party status — meant the federal NDP lost its parliamentary funding. After a decision by the Board of Internal Economy to allocate funds based on a party’s share of the vote, the NDP is now receiving nearly $670,000 for 2026-27.
The new allocations outlined in the committee’s document supplies $1,243,890 each to the Liberals and Conservatives, and $956,840 to the Bloc Québécois.
Liberal House leader Steven MacKinnon confirmed the funding change.
“All parties on the Board of Internal Economy opted to reallocate,” he said. MacKinnon sits on the board, which is chaired by the House Speaker. The NDP lost all its committee seats as a result of its historic electoral defeat last year.
“I want to stress there’s no new funding involved here, and there was a reallocation that indeed gives some resources to the New Democrats,” MacKinnon said.
Source: cbc
