Political strategy is important throughout an election campaign, but perhaps never more so than in the final stretch.
A panel of three experts appeared on this weekend’s edition of The West Block to discuss how Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and Tom Mulcair’s NDP have fared in this critical week.
NDP strategist Marit Stiles claimed the Liberals lost serious ground when their campaign co-chair, Dan Gagnier, made “backroom deals” to assist energy company TransCanada.
But West Block host Tom Clark pushed back.
“Let me stop you there,” Clark told Stiles. “That’s quite a charge you’ve just made. In fact, it’s bordering on criminal activity, so I’d like to ask you: what evidence do you have to suggest that there was a backroom deal going on that would be contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada?”
Stiles replied that Gagnier was perhaps alone with Trudeau in many instances and that she “would like to know” what the two men discussed. She also cited the Liberals’ voting record on a piece of legislation linked to environmental protection.
READ MORE: Trudeau facing more pressure on actions of ex-campaign co-chairman
The panel then tackled the Conservative campaign’s 11th-hour decision to enlist the support of controversial former Toronto mayor Rob Ford and his brother, Doug Ford.
“Well, the Ford brothers are certainly not everybody’s cup of tea, but Toronto likes them and we’re at a point, we’re in a very, very tight race and the Conservatives need to bring out the vote” said former Conservative staffer Michele Austin.
“The Fords have an excellent track record of bringing voters to the ballot boxes. So, part of this is also making sure that the Liberals have a challenge in the (Toronto area), which is extremely important in this election.”
As the speeches and rallies wrap up and the leaders head home to their individual ridings the strategy is effectively out of their hands, the experts said. It now falls to an army of volunteers and party organizers in each camp to help get their supporters to the polls.
“Well listen, this isn’t over, and this is actually quite exciting as an observer putting aside partisan politics,” said Austin.
“The Conservatives need to get out there vote and they’re very, very good at doing it. So they have about 24 to 48 hours to get everybody motivated out to vote and I’m telling you, nobody knows how this is going to end up.”
The NDP and Liberals have their own ground-game, of course. For Trudeau’s supporters, it will be about building on existing momentum, said strategist Mike Robinson.
“It’s not over and the Liberal Party’s going to work very hard over the next 48 hours to make sure that what you were reporting in terms of the polls turns out to be reality come Monday night,” he said. “But in my experience, when there is a trend that occurs in a campaign, in the last 48 hours if it goes anywhere, it tends to accelerate the trend that’s already there, rather than go back to swing hard to another formation.”
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