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Canadian party leaders are working across the country this week, and some see this as a clear sign that the pandemic is coming to an end-but it also proves that federal elections are underway.
But there are still more than two years before a fixed election date. Is a pre-election campaign that looks like a pre-election campaign and smells like a pre-election campaign really qualify as a pre-election campaign?
Not according to Canada’s latest election law.
The 2018 Election Modernization Act usually means that politicians can embrace it in the summer before the election—or elbow their satisfaction during a pandemic. But they can only spend a limited amount of money on advertising. This year, the bill does not apply.
This is because according to the fixed election date law, Canada’s next federal election should be held before October 2023. But a minority parliament like this, in which the number of Liberal parties ruling in the House of Commons exceeds the number of opposition members, may fail. Or the prime minister can go to the Rideau Hall and demand early elections.
Lori Turnbull, Dean of the School of Public Administration at Dalhousie University, Halifax, stated that the Electoral Modernization Act, which sets pre-election advertising restrictions, only applies to the summer months before the fixed election date, not In the earlier elections.
This vulnerability may have an impact. The Conservative Party spent millions of dollars in advertising in May and June 2019, including during the costly NBA playoffs, the Toronto Raptors historically won the Larry O’Brien championship trophy.
The Conservative Party stated that they bought these products because they knew they had money to spend, but could not advertise in July or August of that year because the election was scheduled for October 21.
No big advertising purchases this summer
But during the recent Stanley Cup hosted by the Montreal Canadiens this year, no one was willing to use advertising cash to attract captured audiences. This time, they seem to be saving a lot of money to get closer to the expected August election because they can do it.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not been depraved by reporters’ repeated attempts to induce him to say that a general election is about to be held. The more than $6 billion he announced last week for light rail projects, childcare, and climate action? When asked if this was a pre-election tour, he said on Wednesday that it was just “something we have been talking about and working hard on.”
Turnbull said there are no rules to prevent leaders from running before the campaign-and, she added, there probably shouldn’t be.
“To me, it is now clear that this is preparing for the election, which is exactly what we expect from campaign-style behavior and pre-election behavior,” she said. “I don’t think we can start banning the prime minister and political leaders from participating in political activities.”
Ultimately, Turnbull said, it’s up to party leaders to decide what is ethical and what voters consider acceptable behavior.
Trudeau’s four-province trip was his first domestic trip in months. His ministers are also running around, sometimes with him, sometimes alone, with their own promises.
Trudeau doesn’t just hold a press conference. He met with the governor and mayor, and took some photos there. These included a visit to a White Spot restaurant in Coquitlam, British Columbia, at lunchtime on Thursday, where he ordered a cheeseburger but bumped his elbow and took a photo with the locals who did not expect the Prime Minister to show up.
His spokesperson said that this trip is a government trip and does not include any Liberal Party activities.
Trudeau’s opponents did not leave this field to him alone.
Conservative Party leader Irene O’Toole participated in a series of official events and some party fundraising activities in Calgary. The latter was paid for by party funds, but the trip was generally “in the capacity of the official opposition leader,” spokesman Chelsea Tucker said.
She said O’Toole is “meeting with stakeholders to listen to their concerns, understand their impact, and share his vision of securing the future of all Canadians in each region through the parliamentary budget.”
This weekend, O’Toole’s trip has long been a must-do for Canadian political leaders in July-Calgary Stampede.
New Democratic Party leader Jagmit Singh is on a multi-day tour of British Columbia, first in the Vancouver area and then on Vancouver Island. He is meeting and greeting his followers, talking about affordable housing, and saying that if Trudeau holds an election, it will just try to win back the power struggle of the majority government.
The leader of the Quebec Group, Yves-François Blanchet, spent a week touring the north coast of Quebec, meeting with the mayor and taking photos with members of Congress.
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