Federal parties insert themselves into Ontario election campaign

In the Quebec election campaign, the federal parties -- for obvious reasons -- stayed away.

In the Ontario election, however, things are quite different.

On Wednesday, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair joined his provincial counterpart -- Andrea Horwath -- at a private fundraising event in Toronto.

NDP MP Paul Dewar has also been active for the local campaign in Ottawa.

Dewar told CBC News that it's a mutually beneficial relationship.

"We are trying to look towards 2015 [federal election] and what kind of issues are resonating with people, what kind of arguments work, because sometimes it translates," he said.

"Going door-to-door is the best way to find out issues that matter to people."

[ Related: Choice to vote ‘none of the above’ in Ontario election gains momentum with NOTA party ]

As for the Liberals, Justin Trudeau has made multiple appearances at events with Ontario Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne.

On Wednesday, the duo worked a crowd in Toronto, energizing volunteers for the final week of the election.

Political analyst Gerry Nicholls says that a Trudeau appearance does indeed help Team Wynne jump start their campaign.

"There's no question that the Wynne campaign is trying to tap into [Trudeau's popularity]," Nicholls told Yahoo Canada News.

"It also attracts media attention, it mobilizes the base. There's a lot of good political reasons as to why you would want to [bring in the federal leader]."

To that end, it appears that the Ontario Liberals are taking a page from the Nova Scotia Liberals.

Trudeau was so involved in Liberal leader Stephen McNeil's 2013 election campaign the Huffington Post dubbed the duo's relationship as a 'bromance.'

[ Related: Ontario PCs, NDP buy newspaper covers claiming a win in leaders’ debate ]

And while prime ministers don't generally get involved in provincial campaigns, senior Tory cabinet ministers -- like John Baird and Pierre Poilivere -- have made appearances with their fellow Tories.

And at least one senior federal party staffer is being 'loaned' to the Ontario PCs.

Rick Roth — John Baird's director of communications — has taken a leave of absence to work on the Hudak campaign.

[ Related: Hudak turns campaign around with strong debate performance ]

While federal party involvement in Ontario politics has occurred before, there's more at stake this time around. There's just one year before the next federal election and the recent redistribution of seats has increased the importance of Ontario as a battleground.

In other words, for the federal parties this election is a warm-up for the 2015 election.

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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