What a long, strange trip: #Elxn42

Bob Mackin is a Vancouver multimedia journalist who covers news, politics, business and sports for a variety of outlets. He is the author of Red Mittens & Red Ink: The Vancouver Olympics, an e-book about the 2010 Winter Games.

The 78-day federal election campaign was the longest since 1872. It was sometimes poignant, but more often ridiculous to the sublime. Here are some of the key dates and incidents.

Aug. 19: Remember Earl Cowan, the profane, elderly Conservative who gave reporters a piece of his mind at a Toronto area campaign stop by Prime Minister Stephen Harper? Seems like eons ago. Conservative spokesman Kory Teneycke had to apologize, but Cowan already became an Internet sensation.

Sept. 3: A change of plans in Surrey. Instead of promising federal funds for the proposed Surrey light rail transit system, Harper had to address the erupting furor over the Syrian refugee crisis, a day after the shocking photo of lifeless Alyn Kurdi on a beach in Turkey. It was initially reported that the boy’s family was en route to B.C. before tragedy struck. Kurdi’s uncle had actually sought sponsorship from a relative in the Vancouver area.

Sept. 6: The three main parties sent candidates packing for controversial comments made on social media and to traditional media. But the firing of one candidate on this day set a new standard. Scarborough-Rouge Park Conservative Jerry Bance was revealed as the repairman who urinated in a coffee mug during a CBC hidden camera investigation in 2012. South Surrey-White Rock Liberal Joy Davies was replaced several days later, after she made comments about second-hand marijuana smoke being harmless for children.

Sept. 10: The Wizard of Oz, Lynton Crosby, was revealed as a senior campaign advisor to the Conservatives when it appeared the campaign was floundering. The Australian consultant known for courting controversy was credited with helping the United Kingdom’s Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, win a slim majority earlier this year.

Sept. 15: The Federal Court of Appeal threw out the government’s bid to overturn the decision allowing Zunera Ishaq of Mississauga to wear a Muslim face veil for her citizenship ceremony. Though worn by very few women in Canada, Harper used the niqab as a wedge issue in debates.

Sept. 17: There were five debates between Aug. 6 and Oct. 2 (two English, two French and one bilingual). Green leader Elizabeth May wasn’t invited to the one on this day in Calgary, but she did a Tweet-along to offer her answers to the questions posed to Harper, Tom Mulcair and Justin Trudeau. The social media sensation over Harper’s “old-stock Canadians” comment became the northern equivalent of Republican Mitt Romney’s “binders full of women” soundbite from a 2012 U.S. presidential election debate.

Sept. 18-20: Call it “Heroes Weekend.” Harper, who authored a hockey history book while in office, welcomed the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, to a Toronto campaign stop. Gretzky endorsed Harper, despite new rules that prevented expats like him from voting. Two days later, Laureen Harper and outgoing MP James Moore used the 35th annual Terry Fox Run in Port Coquitlam to promise funding for the Terry Fox Foundation and cancer research if re-elected. Opponents criticized the Conservatives for exploiting the Canadian hero’s legacy to gain votes.

Oct. 12: At a campaign stop in Waterloo, Ont., Harper began a daily old time game show segment, complete with cash register sound effects and contestants dropping cash on a table, instead of picking up a prize. It was intended to illustrate what Conservatives said would be massive tax increases under a Liberal government. This, just days after a change in advertising strategy with a Harper imploring viewers that the election was “not about me,” but the economy and family prosperity.

Oct. 13: Brothers Rob and Doug, populist Conservatives, had prime seats to a Harper campaign stop in Toronto. Reporters questioned why the anti-marijuana Conservative campaign would welcome Rob Ford, who eventually admitted a crack addiction. Harper didn’t use their name, only referring to them as “those individuals” and “that family.” He did pose for photos with them at an Oct. 17 rally hosted by the Fords.

Oct. 9-12: A taste of things to come on Thanksgiving weekend as 3.6 million Canadians went to vote early. In 2011, there were 2.1 million advance voters during three days on Easter weekend. Canadians came out in droves, to use the convenience of an extra voting day to demonstrate their wish for the marathon campaign to end, Harper’s career as Prime Minister to end, or both.