Six bumps in the road to Sussex Drive

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/04/2011 (5282 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

COALITION COMMOTION

Right off the hop on March 26, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff tried to clarify his slightly muddy position by ruling out a formal coalition, especially with the Bloc Québécois. But the spectre of a coalition government dominated the campaign from then on. Prime Minister Stephen Harper hammered Ignatieff and NDP Leader Jack Layton over the issue, saying a coalition of losing parties would damage the economy and undermine democracy. Then, last week, Ignatieff acknowledged that, if a new Conservative minority government fell, the Governor General could call on another party, possibly the Liberals, to attempt to form a government, which Ignatieff said he would be willing to do instead of forcing another election. Many pundits said Ignatieff’s position is perfectly legitimate in a parliamentary democracy, but it reignited the debate over whether Canadians would accept a government formed by a second-place party based on an informal coalition.

ENDLESS SCANDALETTES

From leaked drafts of the auditor general’s report on G8 summit spending to the almost daily dribble of news about disgraced former Tory staffer Bruce Carson, the Conservatives bore the brunt of a steady stream of mini-scandals. None seemed to stick. The Liberals were not immune either. The Grits were forced to boot one Quebec candidate over offensive comments he made about aboriginal people, but kept another candidate on the ballot despite controversial remarks about sexual assault sentences.

KIDS GET PUNTED

On April 10, a University of Western Ontario student was kicked out of a Conservative rally because a photo on her Facebook page showed her posing with Ignatieff. That raised questions about the Big Brother-like lengths to which the Tories were going to micro-manage campaign events and deny young people access to the political process. It even raised questions about the RCMP’s role in vetting rally attendees. It was also a story that wouldn’t die, consuming much of the second week of the campaign as punted students popped up almost daily. The students, plus the hubbub over how few questions Harper took from reporters, gave the opposition parties endless punchlines, allowing them to paint Harper as an authoritarian, secretive leader conducting his campaign in a protective bubble. It also resulted in arguably the funniest meme-like YouTube spot: Hey Stephen Harper, stop creeping me on Facebook.

ENGLISH-LANGUAGE

DEBATE

In Week 3, the debate became a key point in the campaign because of what didn’t happen — Ignatieff was passable, but did not shine in his first faceoff with Harper, Layton and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe. Nervous, Ignatieff failed to use his debate debut to capitalize on his campaign’s early momentum. Instead, many agreed Harper and his steely calm dominated, and the most memorable uppercut of the evening came from Layton, who accused Ignatieff of missing too many days in Parliament. Following the debate, it appeared the election was in stasis, and very little might change on May 2.

ISSUES?, WHAT ISSUES?

There was some talk about federal health funding, getting rid of the deficit, more child-care spaces and raising or lowering corporate taxes. But no one issue ignited any sustained debate on the campaign trail. All four parties released their full platforms by the third week, and by then the daily promises were largely done, replaced by more rounds of negative ads, horse-race chatter and local scandalettes.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

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ORANGE REVOLUTION

The NDP’s remarkable gains could ultimately be the story of the election, depending how polling numbers translate into votes and votes translate into seats. Layton started the campaign with questions about his health and murmurs about a reheated platform and modest turnout at campaign events. Then, late last week, the alchemy of politics kicked in. The NDP’s polling numbers began to climb in Quebec, then British Columbia and possibly now in the rest of Canada, catapulting the almost-fringe, fourth-place party to within spitting distance of the Tories. In a campaign stop this week in Winnipeg, Layton basked in roars of approval when he referred to himself — as he often has — as the next prime minister. The possibility of an NDP-led coalition makes that far less outlandish than it was three weeks ago. Or the NDP surge could split the centre-left vote and hand the Tories the majority they lust after. All of a sudden, Monday’s vote got very interesting.

— Mary Agnes Welch