If you think this campaign has been ugly so far, get ready for it to get a lot worse
With just over two weeks to go before the federal election, polls indicate that Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives remain in a dead heat.
The two front-running parties have been running neck and neck since the campaign officially began. Neither of their carefully constructed platforms seems to have wowed the voters. Nor have their carefully choreographed photo ops.
Both are stuck at about 33 per cent in the approval ratings. It’s as if the campaign to date had never existed.
Scheer’s attempt to appeal to pocketbook issues hasn’t resonated beyond his party’s base. Ditto for Trudeau’s attempt to portray himself as the standard bearer for progressive change in areas such as climate change.
Anecdotal evidence suggests there isn’t a lot of trust in either leader. Indeed, the Oct. 21 election may be decided on the basis of whom voters mistrust the least.
The parties understand this. It’s why their campaigns are becoming increasingly negative.
The Liberals charge that Scheer is a social conservative with a hidden agenda. They make much of the fact he opposed gay marriage several years ago. They note his failure to attend gay pride parades.
Trudeau raised the social conservative bogeyman Thursday, questioning again whether Scheer would support the right of pregnant women to undergo abortions.
Scheer finally answered that question. He said while he personally opposes abortion, he would oppose any effort to raise the issue in Parliament — which is roughly the position that other Roman Catholic political leaders, including Trudeau himself, have taken.
In 2011, Trudeau told Canadian Press he personally opposes abortion but also believes in a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body.
In a normal world, Scheer’s Trudeau-like explanation of his views on abortion would suffice to put the matter to rest. In the hyperpartisan world of negative campaigning, however, it won’t. Expect to hear more from the Liberals on the dangers posed by Scheer’s social conservatism.
Also expect more from the Liberals on Scheer’s attempt to beef up his private sector credentials by claiming that he worked in Saskatchewan as an insurance broker. (He did work in insurance, but not as a broker).
The Liberals have already filed a complaint against Scheer with Saskatchewan regulatory authorities.
Conversely, expect to hear the Conservatives intensify their personal attacks on Trudeau. They are using the slogan “not as advertised” to describe the Liberal leader.
In that vein, they accuse Trudeau of being a faux feminist because he kicked two women, Jody WilsonRaybould and Jane Philpott, out of the Liberal caucus after they said they had no confidence in his government.
They accuse him of being a faux environmentalist for failing to keep Canada on track to meet its carbon reduction targets.
They call him a hypocrite because he ran a tightly centralized government after promising to do politics differently.
They jeer at him for using two carbon-emitting airplanes to crisscross the country during this campaign, even as he talks of fighting climate change.
Pointing to Trudeau’s now infamous trip to India — and with his youthful brownface incidents hovering in the background — they dismiss him as dilettante who revels in fancy dress.
They say he is weak and accuse him — without much evidence, incidentally — of caving into Donald Trump during the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations.
Citing the SNC-Lavalin affair, Scheer calls Trudeau “corrupt.”
As long as the Liberals and PCs remain tied in the polls, these kinds of personal attacks can only increase. The promises made by the two front-running parties are clearly not enough. The point now is to convince voters that the other guy is not only wrong but evil.