# The "Longest Election Campaign in Modern Canada" Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 2, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807 "2015-08-02T15:45:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/21 "2015-08-03T03:43:17Z")
“Some combination” probably covers it. If a nominee is well known and respected in the community that’s never going to hurt. A veteran MP’s incumbency counts for something because they’re more likely to get a cabinet position if their corresponding party wins, and having a cabinet minister representing your riding has residual benefits. There are other factors as well: my hometown riding one year bucked the Conservative national trend when the Conservatives nominated someone who was really too old to be running (he in fact did pass away not long after the election). ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/22 "2015-08-03T05:27:00Z")
South Nanaimo has traditionally been an NDP stronghold and would always go to the NDP candidate but I see we’ve been redistricted to include North Nanaimo, which always goes to another party (currently Conservative although I am pretty sure James Lunney made himself persona non grata in the party with some wingnuttery that was too much for even them). My vote might actually count this time! I’m voting NDP most likely but that was a throwaway vote in the last election because it was never going to be decided by a margin of one. This time might be different. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/23 "2015-08-03T06:15:26Z")
> [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](#): > > Agreed. > > IMHO the fixed election date does not work in a Westminster Parliamentary system. Of course there was an unofficial campaign going on anyway, but I don’t think anyone wanted an 11 week official campaign. > > It has increased the cost to Elections Canada and the taxpayers. Not necessarily doubled it, but certainly added more than a month to rents for office space. I don’t think they work in a Westminster parliament either. Such a parliament works because it depends on confidence in the government–not because some law decrees a date on the calendar to be Election Day. No confidence in the government means an earlier election, as Joe Clark found out. Plenty of confidence in the government means a mandate–until the constitution’s time limits kick in, when the people may be quite unhappy with the government. Right, Mr. Mulroney? No matter who forms the next government, I hope they repeal this silly piece of legislation. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/24 "2015-08-03T06:43:49Z")
The law only exists in the first place because Reform/Alliance/CPC were butthurt over Chretien calling elections earlier than they were ready for back when they couldn’t decide what to call their party. It’s a dumb law with absolutely no legal force, as Harper demonstrated when he ignored it to call the last election. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/25 "2015-08-03T14:18:09Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > South Nanaimo has traditionally been an NDP stronghold and would always go to the NDP candidate but I see we’ve been redistricted to include North Nanaimo, which always goes to another party [snip]. My vote might actually count this time! I’m voting NDP most likely but that was a throwaway vote in the last election because it was never going to be decided by a margin of one. This time might be different. Hi DWMarch! I am in Vancouver, in the new riding of Vancouver Granville. It too is a reconfigured riding, breaking up traditional strongholds. This will be my first federal election since my family moved to Vancouver in 2012, so it is interesting seeing the difference out here. (I have actually lived in BC twice before, but for my partner and son this is a first) Last election I voted for Bruce Hyer, famously the only other Green Party member beside Elizabeth May. This election may actually come to whichever NON conservative party has the best shot at winning on election day. Or as my partner says, “This is one election I was willing to hold my nose and vote Liberal to stop Harper, but hopefully I may not need to”. I take the ferry over to Naniamo almost monthly. My parents live in Parksville and this will be their first election outside of Ontario… ever. I will have to look up their riding soon. My eleven year old is fascinated by politics and trying to absorb every minute of the campaign. He did one of the political compass polls on line yesterday and he is a true lefty, although he admitted, in tears, not to know what to think about Syria. (I told him the vast majority of the world secretly feels the same.) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/26 "2015-08-03T22:14:07Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > How do people tend to look at this? Election of H / Tr / M / etc, election of their favourite party, election of their MP, some combination, something else? For what it’s worth, I can remember the party I voted for in the last election, but not the (losing) candidate I voted for. ---
**Author:** ![bb49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@bb49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bb49)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/27 "2015-08-04T00:20:03Z")
I’ve felt that this election campaign started the minute the last election ended. Just because the writ has been dropped, didn’t really change a thing. The politicians and wannabe politicians continue to say the same old thing. The only thing different now is that I don’t watch the news every day. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/28 "2015-08-04T00:23:03Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Can somebody explain something re: the parliamentary system? > > In theory, I’m voting for my MP, NOT the Prime Minister, right? I know my MP is a member of a party, but the way the campaigns seem to work, it’s as if I’m voting for Harper / Trudeau / Mulcair / possibly other directly (edit to add “directly”). > > How do people tend to look at this? Election of H / Tr / M / etc, election of their favourite party, election of their MP, some combination, something else? I personally think the party is the most important factor, because both the party leader and the local candidate are committed to that party platform. By and large, you have a pretty good idea of what each party is advancing, and that doesn’t usually change radically with a new leader. I follow politics, so I usually know a bit about the local candidates. In my riding, there’s one I personally do not like at all, one I like and think would make a good MP, and one that I’m sort of “meh” about. That will factor into my ultimate decision. > [@](#): > > It’s a bit more straightforward in the US, where you just vote for the presidential candidate and then have your vote effectively dismissed because you’re not from a swing state. With respect, I disagree. It’s not straightforward in the US, because voters can consciously make contradictory choices. In the US system you can cast your vote for a president who favours expanding social programmes, _and_ vote for a congress-critter who wants tax cuts, _and_ vote for a Senator who favours the military over social programmes, all on one ballot. In essence, the US system is set up to allow for people who want free ponies and a tax rebate. Gridlock is the inevitable result. Voting in a parliamentary system forces you to make hard choices: • Do I think tax cuts are more important than social programmes? Then I should vote for Party A. • Do I think taxes should be raised to pay for social programmes, but keep a balanced budget, then I should vote for Party B. • Do I think social programmes are worth running a deficit for? Then I should vote for Party C. And so on. Voting in the US system allows for undisciplined voters to vote for contradictory things, leading to gridlock. Voting in a parliamentary system is for adults. It forces each voter to weigh in the balance the different issues, and actually make a disciplined choice. That in turn leads to governments with clear mandates and the voted on the Commons to achieve it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/29 "2015-08-04T00:28:44Z")
Sorry - duplicate post. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/30 "2015-08-04T00:33:25Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Voting in the US system allows for undisciplined voters to vote for contradictory things, leading to gridlock. Oh, I absolutely agree. My comment about the US was meant facetiously. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/31 "2015-08-04T02:03:38Z")
> [@The\_Lurker\_Above](#): > > Huh, all the radio ads I’ve been hearing in Calgary lately are anti-Trudeau from the Conservatives. You’d think they’d throw in some anti-NDP ads if they’re the real competition. (Not that anti-Trudeau is a hard message to sell in Alberta.) From what I’ve heard, they are ramping up new attack ads now targeting Mulcair. It appears they will attack whoever the presumed primary competitor is at the time the ads are commissioned. I haven’t heard the radio ads but the TV ads will feature the same group of pretend-employers who declared Trudeau “not ready”, and in the fine tradition of clean Conservative campaigning they will declare Mulcair some sort of opportunistic lying dirtbag. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/32 "2015-08-04T02:18:20Z")
> [@The\_Lurker\_Above](#): > > Huh, all the radio ads I’ve been hearing in Calgary lately are anti-Trudeau from the Conservatives. Have they undeaded the NEP yet? It’s been only 35 years. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lurker\_Above](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Lurker\_Above](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lurker_Above)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/33 "2015-08-04T02:29:27Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Have they undeaded the NEP yet? It’s been only 35 years. Not explicitly. Though all the one’s so far have been against “Trudeau” not “Liberals” or “Justin Trudeau”. I wouldn’t be shocked if the ad people are hoping that some of the NEP-hate rubs off on him. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/34 "2015-08-04T03:08:14Z")
I don’t think the attacks on Trudeau are an attempt to revive memories of the NEP, I think personal attacks are just what they do. Probably, in part, because if they can’t win on policy they’re going to try to exploit Harper’s image as a seasoned politician. The emerging attack themes seem to be that Trudeau is an immature kid whose major asset is nice hair, while Mulcair is going to be portrayed as an untrustworthy opportunist. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/35 "2015-08-04T07:14:00Z")
Trudeau is also going to legalize WEED, it’s his first priority according to the radio ads I hear every day. Gosh darn it, not WEED! What kind of country will this turn into… if everyone continues smoking it like they already do… and has to pay taxes on it? Won’t somebody think of the children? If it’s legalized you won’t be able to get a sack at your nearest high school anymore and whatever will that mean for those young entrepreneurs? The Trudeau attack ads go back a long way. I started a thread quite a while ago asking if anyone was scared of Justin Trudeau. The prevailing consensus was no, although he did shit the bed supporting bill C-51. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/36 "2015-08-04T11:19:53Z")
The former head of Elections Canada accuses Harper of gaming the system and effectively avoiding all the checks and balances, his agency was meant to oversee! Calls it a disgrace. Harper has imported every dirty American political tactic he can. He redistributed the ridings to overwhelmingly suit his party. Cancelled funding that matched the donations of regular Canadians, giving his party an huge financial advantage, as all their funding is corporate. He hides a 36m health care funding cut, in an omnibus bill. Names things the opposite of what they are. Totally misrepresentative attack ads, “I guess income splitting for seniors is next!”, um, no. Straight up falsehood! Giving every household with kids a big payout right before the election. (While at the same time removing the child tax deduction!) and says he’ll still sell us all out to the TPP - even while the government is dissolved! No matter how inept the NDP may be at governing, they can never match Harper’s evils. He has made politics dirtier in this country, in every way. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/37 "2015-08-04T13:13:47Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > The former head of Elections Canada accuses Harper of gaming the system and effectively avoiding all the checks and balances, his agency was meant to oversee! Calls it a disgrace. Cite, please? I’ve not seen this one. > [@](#): > > Harper has imported every dirty American political tactic he can. He redistributed the ridings to overwhelmingly suit his party. Creative boundary drawing is not an American invention; Macdonald was famous for it in his day, when the boundaries were drawn directly by Parliament. He called it “hiving the Grits” - i.e. putting as many Liberal supporters as possible into one riding, like a bee-hive, to give the Conservative party better chances in the surrounding ridings. Which is why in Canada, the federal electoral boundaries are not drawn by politicians, but by independent electoral commissions, one for each province, chaired by a superior court judge. The Members of Parliament and the Government do not have the authority to change the boundaries. Each Commission makes an initial report, which is filed with the Speaker of the Commons. A committee of the Commons then reviews the report, and if there are any formal objections to any of the boundaries, and the Committee agrees with them, the Committee can refer the objections to the Commission. The Commission is not required to accept those objections. It can consider them, and then issues a final report. The final report is then implemented automatically by an Order-in-Council of the federal Cabinet. See the [Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act](http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/E-3/page-6.html#docCont): > [@](#): > > **20.** (1) Each commission shall, not later than 10 months after the day on which the chairperson receives the copy of the return referred to in paragraph 13(2)(a), complete a report for presentation to the House of Commons setting out the considerations and proposals of the commission concerning the division of the province into electoral districts, the descriptions and boundaries of the districts and the population of and name to be given to each district and, on the completion of the report, shall cause two certified copies of the report to be transmitted to the Chief Electoral Officer. > > … > > **22.** (1) If, within a period of thirty days from the day the copy of the report of any commission for a province is referred to the committee pursuant to subsection 21(1) or published pursuant to subsection 21(2), an objection in writing is filed with the clerk of the committee specifying the provisions of the report objected to and the reasons for the objection, the committee shall, within the first thirty days next after the expiration of that period that Parliament is sitting or within such greater period as the House of Commons may allow, take up the motion referred to in subsection (2), consider the matter of the objection and return the report to the Speaker together with a copy of the objection and of the minutes of proceedings of the committee with respect thereto. > … > (3) The Speaker shall forthwith refer back to the Chief Electoral Officer the report returned to the Speaker under subsection (1) together with a copy of the objection and of the minutes of proceedings and evidence of the committee with respect thereto for reconsideration by the commission having regard to the objection. > > **23.** (1) Within thirty days after the day the report of any commission is referred back to the Chief Electoral Officer by the Speaker pursuant to section 22, the commission shall consider the matter of the objection and dispose of the objection, and, forthwith on the disposition of the objection, a certified copy of the report of the commission, with or without amendment accordingly as the disposition of the objection requires, shall be returned by the Chief Electoral Officer to the Speaker. > > **24.** (1) Where, with respect to each of the reports referred to in section 20, > > (a) it is ascertained by the Chief Electoral Officer that no objection has been filed with the clerk of the committee referred to in subsection 21(1) in the manner and within the time prescribed therefor in section 22, or > > (b) after the report was referred back to the Chief Electoral Officer by the Speaker, the report, with or without amendment, has been returned by the Chief Electoral Officer to the Speaker pursuant to section 23, > > the Chief Electoral Officer shall forthwith prepare and transmit to the Minister a draft order, in this Act referred to as a “representation order”, in accordance with this section. > > **25.** (1) Within five days after the day on which the Minister receives the representation order, the Governor in Council shall by proclamation declare the representation order to be in force, effective on the first dissolution of Parliament that occurs at least seven months after the day on which that proclamation was issued, and on the issue of the proclamation the order has the force of law accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/38 "2015-08-04T13:16:25Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Cancelled funding that matched the donations of regular Canadians, giving his party an huge financial advantage, as all their funding is corporate. Not so, because corporations (and unions) are banned from contributing to federal political parties, and there are strict limits on how much individuals can contribute to any party or candidate. See the [Canada Elections Act](http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/E-2.01/page-102.html#h-114): > [@](#): > > **Prohibition — ineligible contributors** > 363. (1) No person or entity other than an individual who is a Canadian citizen or is a permanent resident as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act shall make a contribution to a registered party, a registered association, a nomination contestant, a candidate or a leadership contestant. > **Contribution limits** > > 1. (1) Subject to subsection 373(4), no individual shall make contributions that exceed > > (a) $1,500 in total in any calendar year to a particular registered party; > > (b) $1,500 in total in any calendar year to the registered associations, nomination contestants and candidates of a particular registered party; > > (c) $1,500 in total to a candidate for a particular election who is not the candidate of a registered party; and > > (d) $1,500 in total in any calendar year to the leadership contestants in a particular leadership contest. Historically, it was the Liberal Party that got the most corporate donations, while the Conservatives have been better at direct mail solicitations from ordinary Canadians. That may actually be one of the reasons why the Liberals have struggled for the past decade, because their funding model changed dramatically. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/39 "2015-08-04T13:25:32Z")
However, it does seem that the most likely explanation for the long campaign is that it allows the parties to spend more money, and since the Conservatives have more money, that will give them an advantage, as argued in the Globe & Mail: [Harper’s early election call a clever ploy to gain edge on campaign spending](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harpers-extended-election-campaign-undercuts-long-held-conservative-principles/article25812087/) > [@](#): > > He kicked off his campaign with a dose of cynicism, but Stephen Harper thinks it’s pretty clever. > > By launching the campaign six weeks early, he’s increasing the election spending limits, so his Conservative Party can take advantage of the fact that it has more money than the NDP or the Liberals. Conservative officials have whispered to reporters that the tactic will exhaust the other parties’ finances. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807/40 "2015-08-04T13:27:42Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > The former head of Elections Canada accuses Harper of gaming the system and effectively avoiding all the checks and balances, his agency was meant to oversee! Calls it a disgrace. > > Harper has imported every dirty American political tactic he can. He redistributed the ridings to overwhelmingly suit his party. If this were true, Saskatchewan would not have gotten rid of its “rurban” ridings, which chopped up Saskatoon and Regina into ridings which were PC-friendly areas and stranding its NDP voters as minorities in them. I dislike Harper as much as the next guy, but there’s no reason to start spreading lies about the system. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-longest-election-campaign-in-modern-canada-thread/726807.md?page=3)