And they’re off! The federal election’s precampaign period has officially begun

Thestar.com
July 3, 2019
Brice Campion-Smith

It’s the season of picnics and politics.

The long weekend marks more than the start of what seems like an overdue summer. It’s the election warm-up and in the eyes of Elections Canada, the official beginning of the precampaign period that imposes new spending restrictions on activities by political parties and registered third parties.

With the federal election slated for Oct. 21, the coming weeks offer political parties a chance to road test themes and messages with voters, hone tour logistics, get election teams in place and staff up war rooms before the campaign begins in earnest after Labour Day.

And if you live in the Greater Toronto Area, expect plenty of visits by party leaders keen to win over voters.

“More and more people are paying attention as we get closer to the election so that certainly matters although it is the lazy, hazy days of summer,” said Hamish Marshall, the national campaign manager for the Conservatives.

For Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh the coming campaign will be their first as party leaders. Summer tours give both leaders the chance to boost their profiles.

Scheer, who took over the party’s leadership in 2017, kicked off his election introduction to voters with five keynote speeches throughout the spring to sketch out his vision on the economy, the environment, foreign policy and defence, and confederation.

In the weeks ahead, the Conservative leader will take those ideas on the road, Marshall told the Star in an interview.

“We’re going to continue to showcase Andrew Scheer and his positive Conservative vision. Mr. Scheer is going to be touring the country and getting to know as many Canadians as possible between now and when the election starts,” he said.

The Conservatives -- who lead the other parties with 308 candidates nominated, 94 of them women -- have been actively campaigning in ridings across the country, knocking on 1.6 million doors so far this year to meet voters, Marshall said.

Singh, former deputy leader of the Ontario NDP, is the newcomer to the federal stage. He won the leadership of the federal NDP in 2017 but only took a seat in the Commons earlier this year after winning a byelection in Burnaby South. His summer to-do list is to get better known by voters nationwide

“He’s out there talking to people. They are still getting to know him. He’ll also be doing a lot of work to prepare for the campaign since it will be his first,” said Jennifer Howard, Singh’s chief of staff who will serve as campaign director.

“I think the summer mainly is a time of preparation and planning because I think those things are keys to any successful campaign,” said Howard, a former Manitoba cabinet minister.

The New Democrats made the strategic decision to release their entire campaign platform in June, months ahead of election day. That gives Singh and NDP candidates -- 109 nominated so far, 56 of them women -- more opportunities to talk up their campaign vows. But it’s also a tacit acknowledgment that platform details can get lost in the hurly-burly of a campaign.

“We want to make sure that our candidates who are going to spend the summer out there talking to voters and listening to their concerns have a really solid basis of what we want to do if we’re lucky enough to form government,” Howard said.

“We also know we need more time to make sure people hear that,” she said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will also be on the road this summer touting the government’s record on job creation, child benefits and the environment, said Liberal party spokesperson Braeden Caley.

“We want to have conversations about that important progress that is being made for middle-class Canadians and hear from Canadians about their ideas,” he said in an interview.

“Justin Trudeau has been doing a number of events across the country in recent weeks, community events, open fundraising events … nomination events. He’s going to keep doing that over the course of the summer,” Caley said.

The Greater Toronto Area and the communities around it -- numbering more than 60 ridings -- promise to be a target of the summer politicking as candidates look to sway opinion in a region that could well decide the outcome on election day.

“The suburban seats around Toronto have been crucial to winning government for at least 20 years if not more. I can see all the leaders in that area between now and election day,” Marshall said.

Caley called Ontario an “incredibly important focus” for the Liberals and said the party hopes to capitalize on the “overwhelming negative reaction” to provincial Conservative budget cuts.

“There is probably nothing that we hear more about right now on the doorstep in Ontario,” he said.

Sunday marks the official start of the precampaign season, at least according to Elections Canada.

That is when spending limits imposed by Bill C-76 kick in to cap spending in the period leading up to the campaign at $2 million for registered political parties and $1 million for a registered third party.

Those spending limits cover the period between June 30 and the day before the start of the election. The election date is fixed for Oct. 21 and will be called after the Labour Day weekend. But the party in power gets to decide exactly when the campaign -- which must between 36 and 50 days long -- gets underway.

For political parties, the restrictions cap how much they can spend on partisan ads -- anything that promotes or opposes a candidate or a party named in an ad, according to Elections Canada.

Registered third parties -- people or groups that seek to influence the election -- have their spending capped on a broader range of partisan activities, such as canvassing, getting out the vote, partisan advertising as well as election surveys.

Not subject to limits during this time are so-called “issue ads” that promote or oppose a particular issue but don’t name a party or candidate.

The Conservatives -- who have consistently enjoyed a fundraising advantage over the other parties -- say the spending restrictions unfairly punish parties that are good at fundraising.

“I think the cap was constructed to make up for the Liberal weakness on fundraising … There is no public policy reason for it,” Marshall said.

In the first quarter of 2019, the Conservatives pulled in $8 million in contributions, compared to $3.9 million for the Liberals and $1.2 million for the New Democrats, according to Elections Canada data.

“It gives an advantage to the Liberal party who is not doing as well fundraising and more to the point, it doesn’t have a similar restriction on ministerial travel. So they can still travel around the country, using taxpayer dollars for the prime minister to do events and for cabinet ministers to tour around, all on the public dime,” Marshall said.

Caley said the new restrictions ensure that Canadians “have a chance to hear the different ideas from political parties and their supporters in their community on an appropriately even footing.”

“These are very positive steps to protect our democratic process,” Caley said.

He said the rules also ensure that third parties are playing by “some important rules about how they engage in the beginning of the election campaign.”

Caley said the Liberal party notched its best ever June for fundraising though he declined to release precise numbers until the formal release of second quarter results in July.