OTTAWA - They may not be able to cast a ballot for their local Bloc Quebecois candidate, but that hasn't stopped some Canadians outside Quebec from giving money to the separatist party.
An analysis of political donations by The Canadian Press found a handful of people who live beyond the borders of la Belle Province have opened their wallets to help the Bloc in its long slog for sovereignty.
Since 2007, the Bloc has raised $32,000 from people who live in other parts of the country, according to Elections Canada's online database of political contributions.
Only donations of $200 or more appear in the donor database.
Money from outside Quebec makes up only one per cent of overall Bloc donations. The database shows donors gave the party $3.2 million over the last four years.
Thirty-seven of the Bloc's 42 contributors from outside Quebec who gave $200 or more live in Ontario -- and most of that money came from the nation's capital.
The rest of the donors are scattered across the country. Three of them live in British Columbia, one lives in Manitoba and another lives in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The single-biggest donation from outside Quebec came from David Henderson of Victoria, B.C. He has given the Bloc $3,700 over the years.
In 2007, Henderson told the Montreal newspaper La Presse that he made donations and even took out a party membership to help Quebec gain independence, so that Canada would no longer be under Francophone rule in Ottawa.
"I want us to take back our country," the newspaper quoted him as saying. Henderson did not return a message left with his wife this week.
The Bloc's biggest Quebec donor is former leader Gilles Duceppe, who gave the party $9,000.
Duceppe impressed many English-speaking viewers in televised leaders' debates during the past four federal election campaigns.
The Bloc does not run candidates outside Quebec. But some polls have suggested non-Quebecers would vote for the separatist party if they could. Giving money to the Bloc may be the next-best thing.
During the 2006 campaign, the Bloc even got an endorsement of sorts from former Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove. The labour leader was campaigning with the Liberals when he said Quebecers ought to vote for the Bloc to stop the Conservatives.
But the Bloc's fortunes have fallen. They were decimated in the last election by the so-called "Orange Crush" that propelled the New Democrats to the ranks of official Opposition.
Duceppe lost his own seat and promptly resigned after his party was trounced at the polls and left with just four MPs -- down from 47 -- following the May 2 vote.
The Bloc no longer has official party status. Its remaining MPs are relegated to the back row of the opposition benches. They get to speak only a few times each week in question period and can no longer sit as voting members on parliamentary committees.
