Watch: Jennifer Ditchburn of The Canadian Press and Mark Kennedy from the Ottawa Citizen discuss whether the federal government might be worried about the war chests unions have amassed.
Could Prime Minister Stephen Harper call for a long campaign period in an effort to limit how much third parties can spend on political advertising?
Sure.
Would he?
Well, that’s more complicated.
The prime minister can call the election as early as April 1 while keeping election day on Oct. 19, as prescribed by the fixed election legislation. Once the writ is dropped, though, spending limits are automatically imposed on political parties as well as third parties.
READ MORE: How much should third parties be allowed to spend on political ads?
That limit means the Conservatives can only spend a certain amount flooding the airwaves with ads attacking Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, said Jennifer Ditchburn, a parliamentary reporter with The Canadian Press.
“Whenever I hear rumours about an early spring election, I always think, well how come we haven’t seen a flood of Conservative advertising?” she said.
“They also have a huge war chest and can spend most of it before the election is called.”
To Mark Kennedy, parliamentary bureau chief with the Ottawa Citizen, there is no doubt Harper and the Conservatives have “real fears” about the labour movement.
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