The next hurdle is another $33,000 by Jan. 28.
McQuail is an ecological farmer from Lucknow who has used horses instead of diesel-guzzling motors and who once served as executive assistant to former Ontario Agriculture Minister Elmer Buchanan.
He said he is running because he wants to improve the quality of life so every Canadian has the basic needs for water, food, shelter, clothing, healthcare and education.
His vision is a caring, and compassionate country, both for its residents at home and to the broader world community.
"People are starting to understand that the economy has been designed to concentrate wealth into fewer and fewer hands. That's not working out very well for us as a Canadian society, and we need to develop a more distributive economy."
McQuail would like to see the federal government work with provinces, municipalities, housing cooperatives and housing non-profits to build affordable and inclusive ecological housing.
He said it's time to ensure that one full time job can cover the basic cost of living with a fair tax system and a universal basic income.
"We need to start really looking at regeneration, and how do we heal the damage that we've done to our life support system, the planet earth," he said.
He also wants electoral reform so there is proportional representation, not first-past-the-post on an individual riding basis. Under a proportionate system, some of the politicians chosen would reflect the percentages of votes for qualified parties on a nation-wide basis.
The NDP leadership convention will be in Winnipeg in March.
