Jeff Green | Aug 05, 2015


Thinking about an October 19 vote in early August is like worrying about your wood supply on the hottest day of the summer. You know winter will come and you know you didn't get enough wood cut last spring, but it would be crazy to fire up the chain saw because it is just too hot, so why not go for a swim instead?

We know there is an election campaign underway nonetheless. The party leaders are wearing suits instead of t-shirts and are holding meetings in halls instead of setting up photo-ops and rib-fests and community barbeques. But isn't it too hot for this? Isn't summer too short too waste any of it on politics?

I believe I speak for supporters of all parties when I say there is no reason for us to listen at all until September 10.

Since politicians in Canada love to use hockey analogies, I'll try one on for size here. While die-hard hockey fans pay attention to the NHL in October, most of us only look in sometime in March to see if our team is going to make the playoffs, and if so we will dust off the old sweaters and fire up the TV to see if they get anywhere.

Some pundits say a long election campaign will provide an opportunity to discuss policy instead of the latest sound-bite. That is not true; elections are all about gaffes and momentum and no party is willing to tackle hard policy questions in that context, no matter how long the campaign.

The party leaders will now have six weeks of jockeying for positions at the starting gate before the real race begins, and nothing more.

The reason this is happening is that the Conservative Party sees an advantage in going early because there is a $25 million spending limit in a 37-day campaign, and the NDP and Liberals will be able to find that kind of money somehow, so it would be an even playing field. The longer campaign brings the spending limit to $50 million, which only the Conservatives can come up with, so the long campaign creates a financial advantage for them. The calculation they made is that they will not lose votes by calling an election when the public does not want to be bothered, but they think we will have forgotten all about how they interrupted our August long weekend by the time Thanksgiving arrives and the vote is finally at hand.

Meanwhile, in early October, they will be able to blitz TV screens with ads about Trudeau's hair or the Marxist takeover of Canada, as the case may, be, while the Liberals and NDP will be struggling to keep their leaders' airplanes flying back and forth across the country.

The election announcement, which came on Sunday but was reported in the national media late last weekend, did put a couple of local events in perspective, however.

There is no way to be certain about this, but two weeks ago Jeff Leal, the Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, dragged himself and a number of staffers through the July heat to the bridge de-construction site in Sharbot Lake to announce the next phase of rural infrastructure funding, with a deadline of September 12.

I wondered at the time about the timing and location of the announcement. There is no Ontario election on the horizon, so why not just issue a press release?

Leal made it clear when he was in Sharbot Lake that the funding for the Ontario Rural Infrastructure program is 100% provincial.

Ten days later, a last-minute announcement about federal rural funding came out from MP Scott Reid's office, (see article on page 2) just 48 hours before the election call when Parliament was dissolved and the grants could not have been approved.

This may have been be an attempt to garner publicity at the start of a campaign, or it may have been done to ensure the funding is delivered even if the Tories lose power, but it is unlikely that it is merely a coincidence.

But why did Jeff Leal come to Sharbot Lake?

My suspicion is that it was in order to remind Ontario voters that the Harper government and the Wynne government do not get along and to encourage voters who support the provincial Liberal party to support the federal Liberal party, but then again I might be reading too much into it. Maybe Jeff Leal has always wanted to visit Sharbot Lake.

As for our own federal election activities, the Frontenac News is going to sponsor an all-candidates meeting, likely in Sydenham and likely in late September. Because there is so much time available, we are also thinking about trying to sit down with each candidate and publish comprehensive interviews over the late summer and early fall. We will also profile the candidates when the election date is imminent, for the benefit of those readers who refuse to think about the vote until after Thanksgiving.

The candidates that have been named thus far are Scott Reid (Conservative Party) Philippe Archambault (Liberal Party) John Fenik (New Democratic Party) and Anita Payne (Green Party)

While we could all ignore the election entirely right now, there is something that Conservative and NDP supporters could be doing.

They should identify all the Liberal voters among their friends and acquaintances and make sure to find a way to talk to them as the summer wears on. Subtly, without being pushy, they need to draw their friend/target into a conversation about politics, saying somehting like 'how 'bout that election'. When the conversation gets underway, and timing is everything here, hinting that voting for the Liberals is about as useful as cheering for the Leafs is a useful tactic.

The important part is the next step.

The target needs to be the one that offers up that the Liberals are toast this time around.. If they aren't ready then steer the conversation away from politics, no sense upsetting them now with your pitch.

But if the door is open, it is time to pounce.

The strategies are as follows, depending on which side of the fence you sit.

For you Conservatives, use the following blunt message: the socialist hordes are at hand and the only safe landing place is with the Conservatives.

NDPers, try this one: another 4 years of Tory rule will create a terrorist fearing nation of climate change deniers with a continued lack-luster economy.

If you are a Liberal voter and you are reading this, I don;t know what to tell you exactly, except you guys chose the wrong leader for the third time in a row.

Strike three, your out of this one.

One more thing for Liberals (address all angry letters to our new email address – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

PS If the polls change in favour of the please disregard this notice.

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