Brace yourselves: the long summer of campaigning is coming. We are approximately five months out from E-day, and already volunteers, office space, and literature are being marshalled for the long road ahead. There will be door knocking and phone calling training days for ground troops, just as there will be countless BBQs and photo ops for candidates. And each party leader will declare one message until they're blue in the face: I'm just like you, vote for me.
While the methodologies will be strikingly similar - after all, there are only so many ways to knock on a door, elicit support, or slag your opponents - what each party brings to the table in the way of leaders and core platform planks is quite different. Obviously that subject matter is too extensive to broach all at once in this small space, and so I do hope you will indulge me in my first real editorial "series" over the next few weeks that will explore each party's policies and leader.
Of course, I make no promises of a non-biased approach - after all I'm a columnist not a reporter - but I do promise to give points where they're due, regardless of the party's colour.
That's all well and good for the weeks ahead, but what about my byline for this week? In a word: grim. In a sentence: the Tories electoral prospects look grim, full stop.
A few months ago, I was confident of a second Conservative majority government. Oil was up, Bill C-51 looked like a public relations nightmare Harper would eventually let die in committee, and both opposition leaders were struggling to properly position themselves against the government on the budget and fighting ISIS.
Now, five months from general voting day, things are beginning to pile up: C-51 is being passed while the democratic reform bill that got all party support may very well die in the Senate over the summer; oil is down, forcing the Tories to borrow from other programs to balance the budget; Alberta's gone orange, meaning swaths of staffers will receive paid leave to help Mulcair and gang across the country with various campaigns; Duffy being roasted alive makes for great TV, but it will make for easy points to score in the debates too; and finally, even gun owners, an indispensable demographic of Tory support, are beginning to wonder if they've been forgotten.
That's a lot for any one party to overcome, even if it does have the largest war chest. To be clear, I make no guesses as to who might form government in October, but at this point I really do believe it's anyone's game. In the end however, just like every election, the decision ultimately rests with the voters. So get informed, register as a voter, and get ready for the electoral battle that may very well define Canada in the 21st century.
