Opinion
Don’t be surprised if Canadians try something different this time around
By Michael Harris Jul. 1, 2019
Some pundits see a horse race developing—two big parties in a virtual tie. But if the polls have it right, the lesson is not that Canadians are in for a competitive spectacle. It is that the Liberals have already lost a great deal.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, and People's Party Leader Maxime Bernier. With the perennial power parties looking like twins separated at birth, both flogging 'plans' to fight climate change with one arm around the oil industry and their heads buried firmly in the ground on real action to fight climate change, would it be so surprising if Canadians try something different this time around, writes Michael Harris. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade and photo editing by Marie-Louise Meunier
HALIFAX—And so it begins, that traditional steeple chase towards nothing called a federal election.
Related Stories
Politics This Morning
Your email has been added. An email has been sent to your address, please click the link inside of it to confirm your subscription.
‘They’re really riled up here’: Conservatives circling Goodale’s lone Liberal seat in Saskatchewan
‘The numbers are holding very closely to what they were last time. It all depends on turnout,’ says the 31-year MP Ralph Goodale. Candidates scramble to outperform their competitors in the critical ground game ahead of next week’s election
Liberal MP Ken Hardie says his team has set up get-out-the-vote ground operations in the riding to get all his supporters to the polling booths on election day.Debt, deficit ‘not ballot booth issues’ for most Canadians: pollsters
Unlike in the last election, none of the major party leaders has promised to try and balance the budget within a four year mandate during this campaign. If it’s a minority government, Liberals can stay in power even if Conservatives win more seats on Oct. 21, but could prompt public backlash
'Does that create a legitimacy question, for Trudeau to combine with Singh, or not? There’s no legal impediment to it,' says former CBC Parliament Hill bureau chief Elly Alboim.Mendicino campaigning with Liberal stars as gun violence takes centre stage in Eglinton-Lawrence
There have been 26 shootings in the riding in this calendar year. Tight contest between Liberals, Conservatives, lower voter turnout could benefit third parties, experts say
With a campaign that has been 'characterized by bickering' and personal attacks, and less about policy, turnout doesn’t appear poised to hit the same levels as the last election, says pollster Nik Nanos.Trudeau’s Liberals outpacing Scheer’s Conservatives in Facebook ad spending
The Conservatives directed fewer ad dollars to Mr. Scheer’s page, funnelling 77 per cent of its spending to the national party page, compared to just 6.5 per cent to the leader’s profile.NDP looking to capitalize on Singh swing to make federal breakthrough in Brampton East
With former Liberal Raj Grewal not in the running after his gambling scandal, the NDP are mounting a fierce campaign in party leader Jagmeet Singh’s home turf.Tossed Tory candidate ‘changes everything,’ with two-way fight shaping up in Burnaby North-Seymour
Once viewed as a three-way race, Burnaby North-Seymour is now seen as a tight, two-way contest between the rookie Liberal incumbent and his experienced NDP challenger.
Trending Stories
