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OTTAWA - Stephen Harper's Conservative party is hanging on to the title of champion federal fundraiser but Justin Trudeau's Liberals are closing in fast.

Fundraising reports for the first quarter of 2014, filed with Elections Canada, show the Liberals are the party with the most money momentum.

The governing Tories raked in the most: almost $4.6 million, up only marginally over the same quarter last year.

The Liberals raised almost $3.8 million, more than double the party's $1.7 million take during the same period a year ago.

The NDP also upped its game, raising just over $2.5 million in the first three months of 2014, up from $1.6 million in the first quarter last year.

The Liberals also show the most momentum in terms of the number of Canadians willing to donate to the party, with 34,945 contributors, compared to 31,765 for the Conservatives and 21,748 for the NDP.

For the Liberals, the number of donors is up more than 12,000 from the same period last year; the NDP is up about 3,000 while the Conservatives actually lost about 7,000 donors.

By The Canadian Press

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Liberals closing fast on Tories' fundraising

Is That Your Kid? : 09 Audio Stuff For Liberals
We introduce two new Behind the Scenes Counterparts to the show. One is a Time Traveling Reporter from the West Coast and the other doesn #39;t like it when his ...

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Is That Your Kid? : 09 Audio Stuff For Liberals - Video

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The government backbench is voicing concern about policy in the lead up to the budget. Analysis with Chris Hammer and Mark Kenny.

Senior Liberals have described plans for a possible deficit tax in the budget as "electoral suicide".Some talked of a party-room revolt and one warned the Prime Minister Tony Abbott would wear the broken promise as "a crown of thorns" if the government decided to go through with it.

The figure, part ofMr Abbott's ministerial team, spoke on condition of anonymity, arguing the suggestion of a tax was one that could come to "haunt"Mr Abbott's entire prime ministership.

Tough sell: Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaking to Neil Mitchell on Fairfax radio in Melbourne. Photo: Penny Stephens

"I worry that this is Tony's Gillard moment, when she announced the carbon tax," said the senior Liberal.

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Several other Liberals also expressed dismay at the prospect of a government, elected to restore trust to politics, overturning a "crystal-clear" policy commitment of no new taxes, in its first budget.

Incredulous Liberals contacted by Fairfax Media said they had been given nothing to tell voters who were beginning to call electorate offices to complain.

A Gillard moment: Senior Liberals are worried that Tony Abbott's deficit tax could spell disaster for the government. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

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Tax is 'electoral suicide': Liberals

The Ontario Liberals are promising to boost the minimum wage of personal support workers in the home-care sector by $4 an hour, the latest in a long line of spending commitments the Wynne government is making in a bid to survive beyond Thursdays budget.

Health Minister Deb Matthews and Finance Minister Charles Sousa announced Tuesday that the Liberals would increase the minimum wage for 34,000 publicly paid PSWs to $16.50 an hour by April 1, 2016, up 32 per cent from the current rate of $12.50.

The first $1.50-an-hour of the raise is retroactive to April 1, meaning it would take effect even if the budget fails, forcing a snap election. The next $1.50 increase would kick in in 2015, and the final dollar would take effect in 2016.

The Progressive Conservatives dismissed the pay hike as a pre-election ploy, while the New Democrats, the party that will determine the minority governments fate, chastised the Liberals for moving too slowly to address the recruitment problem plaguing the home-care field.

Theyve made 39 announcements under their budget-leaking team and every single one of these has been to try to win seats in the upcoming elections, said Vic Fedeli, the Tory finance critic.

The PSW wage increase is expected to cost the government $50-million in 2014-2015, an outlay that would increase to $130.5-million a year in 2016-2017, if the proposal is fully implemented.

Mr. Sousa said he is planning to find the money in savings reaped from moving chronically ill and elderly patients out of expensive hospital beds which cost nearly $1,000 a day to operate and back into their homes, where they can be looked after by PSWs.

That is a very smart investment, Ms. Matthews said, after announcing the pay hike to a cheering Toronto crowd of purple-shirted members of SEIU Healthcare, the arm of the Service Employees International Union that represents 11,000 PSWs. As we attract and retain more people to work in the home-care sector, that takes big pressures off our hospitals and off our long-term care homes.

The home-care sector has struggled to recruit and keep workers, according to Sharleen Stewart, the president of SEIU Healthcare.

The pay is low, the hours are irregular and expenses such as mileage are not consistently covered by the private and non-profit companies that deliver home-care services in the province, she said.

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Ontario vows to raise care workers wages