How Not to Start a Political Campaign: run a terrible, negative ad that upsets people in your party as well as the general public. Violate copyright infringements. Make reporters who would rather cover issues get tied up in a mess.
This ad is bizarre, tone-deaf, and misogynist. Using a 50-year-old film as your canvas is an unusual take. Asking millennials to go back to a scene from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a big ask. Justin Trudeau as Veruca Salt throwing a tantrum might have been good to let off steam in a room or a Zoom call hoping there isn't a leak. Releasing said video on Twitter on purpose: yikes!!
Attacking the prime minister is a way for the opposition party leader can be a good way to start off the campaign. When your move is more childish than the tantrum you spotlight, you might want a mulligan.
The coverage honed in on how some conservatives thought the ad was in poor taste. Mainstream journalism is less likely to be critical of conservative actions if conservatives aren't complaining. The ad isn't magically better or worse depending on how some conservatives react.
Free advice: Conservatives, introduce your candidate. Average voters know little about Erin O'Toole. You have a slightly better candidate than the last one. Might not have been as memorable of an introduction but better strategy than what the Conservatives did in 2021.
2021 Canada election preview
"Vaccines are not a political issue. To try and make them one is dangerous and irresponsible," said Conservative leader Erin O'Toole.
O'Toole said, if elected, he would demand travellers pass a rapid test before boarding a bus, train, plane, or ship. We know Conservative voters tend to drive more cars and take less public transportation. Imagining Canadians having to pass a rapid test before boarding a TTC streetcar or the 99-B express bus in Vancouver. The morning commute will be so much worse.
The same would apply for Via Rail and flying within Canada. The bus companies that had to replace Greyhound would struggle with that requirement.
This is more about the dance where conservatives encourage something but don't require the practice. The Liberals did respond with strengthened requirements just before calling the election, seen as possibly unfair. That approach has put the Conservatives on the defence.
O'Toole's solution wouldn't politicize vaccines, just make everyday Canadians lives bogged down in unnecessary time wasters. Also, everyone on the O'Toole campaign bus and plane must be fully vaccinated.
We would love to see the intercity bus issue be asked in any debate, English or French, to the party leaders. We would be highly shocked if anyone asks a single question on the issue, in a debate or a press conference. Let us know if we are gladly wrong on this prediction. Intercity bus travel is crucial to a lot of Canadians who would love to know where the parties stand on the topic.
A more optimistic political ad. Jagmeet Singh and the NDP in a 15-second ad on the impact the party made on this minority government. The ad crams a lot into 15 seconds but this is good information to know.
The stark contrast of an empty apartment is an excellent background to tell this story.
As we noted in our preview, 4 of the last 6 federal election have gone to a minority government. The NDP won't be as obvious about that (smartly), but essentially the party is advocating the status quo. An intriguing argument to make.
The Conservative ad whined that Trudeau wants a majority government. The NDP ad argues the same premise (minus the whining) but goes into why that isn't a good idea.
Justin Trudeau wins second term as Canada PM but in a minority government
2019 Canada election preview
Green Party Leader Annamie Paul doesn't have a seat in Parliament. Elizabeth May is the Green leader in Parliament because she has a seat.
Leaders sometimes run in a different riding, such as what NDP leader Jagmeet Singh did by running and winning the Burnaby South riding in 2019. Singh is from Ontario.
Paul ran for the by-election in the Toronto Centre riding last fall when Finance Minister Bill Morneau resigned his seat. Marci Ien won the seat last October.
Paul once again is running in her home base in Toronto Centre. We love applauding tenacity but also like to see party leaders in Parliament, where they can do more good.
2021 Canadian politics preview
The Conservative Party dumped their Yukon candidate Jonas J. Smith. His stance on not wanting vaccine passports is likely the reason.
Parties have become more diligent in dumping candidates, just not in vetting them. As we noted in our Nova Scotia election coverage, Nova Scotia outgoing Premier Iain Rankin gave a lesson in how not to dump a candidate. Have not seen the alleged “boudoir photos” but that seems a lame excuse to get rid of a candidate. The party was better off leaving Robyn Ingraham on the ballot. The party wasn't likely to defeat NDP incumbent Claudia Chender in the Dartmouth South riding.
Parties have to do a balancing act and need to do better on juggling those priorities.
CanadianCrossing.com journalism coverage
We went after Global's Dawna Friesen for her clueless tweet last week. We loath lazy journalism, especially when that action is biased, even if we might agree. Ask tough questions to people who want to be prime minister. They may not answer them but get the question on the record.
The beauty of this interview from Neetu Garcha of Global BC with Conservative leader Erin O'Toole is her calm voice but tenacious determination to get in some really good questions. O'Toole dances as best that he can but his inability to address good questions is a bit embarrassing.
The issue is when mainstream journalists ask tough questions of the Greens and NDP, in particular, that they never would dream to ask of Conservatives. True non bias is asking tough questions to every candidate, Liberals included.
We critique journalism as part of our political coverage. So this question is fair: why give extra attention to the negative Conservative ad featured at the top of this page?
Most of the coverage has been about "look at how terrible this ad is" while still running the video. Our presentation gives a critique of the ad and places the ad in context to the start of a campaign for a party who has a new leader.
You shouldn't assume everyone has seen the ad or can place that in the proper context. Regular people have busy lives. The notebook helps people catch up on what is happening in a relaxed Sunday environment.
The coverage might seem like we are rewarding bad behaviours and negative ads. Some of the coverage does that; other parts don't as much.
Most of the ads we will spotlight will be positive ones. Most of the coverage doesn't do that as well.
What did we learn from pandemic elections in Canada?
Podcasts are a great way to catch up on the Canadian election, especially for late summer listening. They also cross over easily if you are tuning in from south of the 49th parallel.
We've mentioned Party Lines from CBC in the past. The pairing of opposites is the appeal of the show: Rosemary Barton and Elamin Abdelmahmoud. The show took a summer hiatus with the understanding that the show would return if/when the election was called.
Party Lines has been better of late without the pressure of an election. The content had been a little too much on whether points were scored than issues of the day. Party Lines comes out on Thursdays.
Backbench (formerly Oppo) is a new Canadian politics podcast from Canadaland. Host Fatima Syed has a revolving door of panelists with a wide variety of perspectives. The podcast is willing to tackle issues reasonably in depth. They have fun with politics and know when to take a topic seriously.
Backbench has been running every other Tuesday but will go weekly during the election cycle. If you like Canadaland, try Backbench.
Canadian politics coverage on CanadianCrossing.com
CBC News provides you with a thorough guide on the ways you can vote in the 2021 Canada federal election.
- Advance polls will be open from September 10-13 for the September 20 election.
- You can vote at an Elections Canada office until September 14. You do have to complete a special ballot application.
- You can mail in your vote. You have to complete a special ballot application. You then get a special ballot voting kit in the mail. Return your ballot using the pre-addressed return envelope. The vote has to get to Elections Canada on September 20 (Election Day) at 6p ET.
- Obviously, you can vote on Election Day. Your humble narrator always voted on Election Day until the pandemic.
The options may depend on whether you know right now which candidate will get your vote or if you are the type of voter who waits until closer to Election Day to know the candidate they will choose.
You can always get more information from Elections Canada.
Nova Scotia goes Progressive Conservative for the first time since 2009
You might have missed our Nova Scotia election coverage. The election was the first in the pandemic to flip a party, making some political experts excited about whether this would happen in the federal race.
This expert says no. Atlantic Canada, in a good way, marches to its own beat. The Liberals had been in power for 8 years. That party ran a poor campaign while the other 2 parties ran good campaigns.
This also was the first pandemic election where people were vaccinated. The federal election will be decided on its own merits. Here is hoping in a truly non-partisan fashion that the new Nova Scotia government can improve health care in that province.
photo credit: Conservative Party
video credit: NDP
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