Canada PoliticsOne year until the next federal election: What to expect
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen our federal party leaders shamelessly embrace populist politics.
Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper took part in a Hockey Night in Canada broadcast with new host George Stroumboulopoulos.
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was featured in a Chatelaine magazine article titled ‘Is Justin Trudeau the candidate Canadian women have been waiting for' and this week will unveil his new tell-all biography.
NDP leader Thomas Mulcair went on “The Social” — a lifestyle show on CTV — to talk about his party’s childcare plan. The man some Conservatives ‘affectionately’ call “Angry Tom” even dove into a children’s ball pit.
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If it feels like an election campaign, that’s because we’re in the midst of one — an election campaign which could be the longest in Canadian history.
In 2007, the Harper government passed Bill C-16 to institute fixed election dates. Thanks, in part, to minority governments between 2007 and 2011, the legislation hasn’t been used.
As long as Harper doesn’t request an early election this time around, Canadians will go to the polls on October 19, 2015 — one year from today.
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Now that all parties know when the next election will be, you can bet that the past couple of weeks have been a harbinger of things to come for the next 52.
Throughout the next 365 days, all three parties will parade their leaders in front of the masses allowing the public to see their lighter, fun-loving sides. They’ll all be portrayed as politicians who can relate to the problems of the common man and will stand up for the average middle class voter.
In terms of specifics strategies, Harper and his cabinet will keep touting the upcoming budget surplus.
Over the past month, Finance Minister Joe Oliver announced cuts to EI premiums for small businesses and Harper announced a boost to the child fitness tax credit. Expect the Tories to announce more goodies thanks to ‘their economic prowess.’
Meanwhile, the Conservative Party machine will use its financial advantage — having much more money in its coffers than the other two parties — to denigrate Justin Trudeau at every opportunity.
We’ll see a plethora of attacks ads suggesting that Canadians ought to choose the tried and tested leadership of Harper, over the inexperienced and gaffe-prone Justin Trudeau.
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As for the Liberals, they’ll have to play both offense and defense.
They’ll try to portray the Harper Conservatives as a tired, old and arrogant government that needs to be ousted and replaced by ‘new solutions, new ideas and a new way of doing politics.’
They’ll also want to mitigate any suggestion that Trudeau is weak on policy.
An example of that is the party’s new YouTube series titled “Team Trudeau on the Issues” where Trudeau discusses different topics with party candidates.
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Finally, the New Democrats, will try to distinguish themselves from the Liberals by introducing their policy platform well ahead of the official writ period.
Last week, Mulcair unveiled his childcare policy — a $5 billion federal/provincial plan that would create 1 million new, affordable, daycare spaces across the country.
Expect more policy announcements throughout the next year.
Mulcair will also spend less time in Ottawa and more time touring the country.
NDP strategists want Canadians to get to know him and maybe even lose that “Angry Tom” moniker (i.e.: lots of smiling pictures of him)
For political junkies, the next 365 days are going to be exciting: There will be lots of announcements, many attack ads, photo-ops galore and endless fundraising efforts.
What happens in the next 365 days may very well determine Stephen Harper’s legacy, Thomas Mulcair’s political future or whether or not we’ll have another prime minister Trudeau.
Let the fun begin.
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