That the Conservative Party has launched attack ads against Stéphane Dion weeks or months before any anticipated election marks something of a turning point in Canadian politics (BTW – I never call the CPC “Tory”, that party was a victim of homicide at the hands of Peter MacKay and the PM). It is extraordinarily rare for Canadian political parties to buy advertising outside of an election period but the CPC has more cash on-hand that it will be permitted to spend, under Election Act rules, during an official campaign and so lacks the incentive or necessity to preserve its resources. The Liberal Party, on the other hand, is still in debt and will be struggling to finance an election campaign in the next 12 months. So the CPC will get in a few early swipes at Dion and the defenceless Liberals.
The remote downside to the CPC’s early escalation of campaign-level rivalry is that it may be seen as pushing to precipitate an election most Canadians and most of the opposition political parties do not want (with the possible exception of Bloc Québecois). The risk for the Conservatives is in being seen as threatened by Dion and anxious to dispose of an election before voters get to know him and, maybe, like him. Any party which triggers a spring election, save the Bloc, may very likely incur the electorate’s wrath. The CPC’s bellicosity could spin round and deliver them a self-inflicted, punishing blow.
The remote downside to the CPC’s early escalation of campaign-level rivalry is that it may be seen as pushing to precipitate an election most Canadians and most of the opposition political parties do not want (with the possible exception of Bloc Québecois). The risk for the Conservatives is in being seen as threatened by Dion and anxious to dispose of an election before voters get to know him and, maybe, like him. Any party which triggers a spring election, save the Bloc, may very likely incur the electorate’s wrath. The CPC’s bellicosity could spin round and deliver them a self-inflicted, punishing blow.
