Liberal Party fundraising shifts into high gear

pbest@globeandmail.com

Tonight Tom Bitove is set to host a fundraiser for Michael Ignatieff's Liberals deep in the kingdom of Bay Street at Scotiabank Plaza.

Mr. Bitove is a scion of the Bitove restaurant family and is a business partner of Wayne Gretzky, as well as executive chairman of moving van company AMJ Campbell.

This year, the federal Liberals are having rather more success raising dough than last year.

National director Rocco Rossi tells us that in the first two quarters of 2009, the party has garnered about $6-million - which was the amount of cash raised in all of 2008.

Mr. Rossi took his current job in January and at that time party memberships stood at about 40,000.

Today they are over the 100,000 mark.

A big event planned for Oct. 1 is a tribute dinner for former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien, who will appear alongside Mr. Ignatieff.

It takes place far from the downtown core, in Woodbridge, Ont., north of the city, but likely will see its share of movers and shakers.

Organizers include Ramesh Chotai, co-chairman of the Canada India Foundation and president of Bromed Pharmaceuticals Inc., and investor and philanthropist Aditya Jha, who is president of Karma Candy Inc. and a co-owner of Yorkville resto Prego.

Museum's new CEO lauded

Gail Asper, the guiding light and chief fundraiser for the under-construction Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, has sent around an e-mail to "Friends" of the museum lauding the appointment by the federal government of Stuart Murray as its first chief executive officer.

"We are very pleased," she wrote.

Mr. Murray has had an eclectic career - everything from road manager for the rock group Blood Sweat and Tears to novice leader of the Conservative party in Manitoba for five years to, most recently, CEO of St. Boniface Hospital and Research Foundation.

Ms. Asper says Mr. Murray is a major donor to the museum, an institution that originated as a dream of her father, the late broadcasting mogul Izzy Asper.

It is scheduled to open in 2012.