CAMPAIGN DECODER Putting on — and taking off — that election face
Politicians insist it is possible to press the “pause” switch on their own election campaigns.
Today, Paul Martin appears at a climate-change conference in his capacity as Prime Minister — not as campaigning Liberal leader.
Yesterday, New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton said he was doing a “non-campaign” stop at a ceremony to remember the 1989 Montreal massacre at l’École Polytechnique.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper hasn’t yet made any similar declarations, but he served notice on the weekend that he would not be getting into petty disputes over when other leaders are on and off the campaign trail before Jan. 23.
Political tact and taste are the issues here, and will become more pronounced as the holidays get closer and leaders have to decide how much of a “truce” they will honour over the Christmas and New Year’s break. More skeptical observers, however, will wonder whether politicians are ever truly able to slip out of campaign mode during these 55 days. There are, after all, advantages to being seen to rise above the political fray.
Martin is faced with the most temptations on this score, since he still officially holds his job. Already in the first week of this election, he’s slipped into primeministerial persona to make announcements or appearances without facing the pressure of reporters’ questions. There’s his appearance today at the Montreal conference and there have been his statements on world events, such as the fate of Canadian hostages being held in Iraq.
Liberal ministers as well have been taking campaign breaks to perform ministerial duties. Finance Minister Ralph Goodale travelled to London for a G- 7 meeting and International Trade Minister Jim Peterson intends to go to Hong Kong next week for World Trade Organization talks.
In all these instances, though, the “non-campaigning” Liberals are still claiming that precious election commodity of media attention. They may not be officially on the trail, but their faces are still before the electorate.
During this especially long campaign, ministers will have more of a reason to claim they had to suspend politicking, because the business of the nation can’t simply be put on hold for almost two months. Most Liberal opponents know better than to complain publicly, though behind the scenes they may grumble about the incumbent government using its privileges to take political advantage. But it is still largely the case in Canada that when the politicians say they’re taking a break from the campaign, they are generally taken at their word and, for better or worse, are permitted to carry out their tasks without the media questioning their motives.