The Conservative budget due soon will be the actual start of the federal election campaign, even though it has been going on now for about four months.
Each of the three main party leaders are scrapping back and forth through television, newspaper and radio. Who can get the good press.
It has been a typical election so far, the Liberals and the NDP accusing the Conservatives on a variety of fronts, the governing party telling people they know how to run the finances of the country and they will be bringing in a balanced budget.
Harper’s government also plans to spend $7.5 million telling people about the budget.
Blatant advertising cried the Liberals and NDP.
Do all governments in power in this country not do some kind of advertising designed to tell the populace how wonderful they are and it is paid for by the tax payers when an election approaches.
This is generally done within the confines of the electoral system, but certainly it is always open to question.
The Liberals suggest the NDP is using constituency offices for election workers.
They say the NDP are disguising where employees are working in these offices. MPs in the NDP ranks were asked not too long ago to cough up $4 million dollars for similar irregularities.
Can the NDP gain in the next election?
I don’t think so. Justin Trudeau has Liberals working hard in Quebec and Ontario and maybe he will take away from Thomas Mulcair.
After the federal budget, Conservatives, I suspect, will work on convincing the electorate they are the only party capable of running the economy of this country.
This will be similar to what happened in our last B.C. election when Christy Clark told voters the Liberals were the only ones who could economically do a good job of running the province.
I don’t think the charismatic Justin Trudeau and his Liberals will defeat the Conservatives, but they will push Thomas Mulcair and his NDP from opposition status.
Stephen Harper will win the election but it could be that Trudeau and Mulcair will have garnered enough votes to put him in a minority government situation once the votes have been counted. The election will certainly be interesting this time around, given the Senate scandal and all, Mike Duffy included.
I hope it is not too early to start thinking about the election and who you would like to run this country and represent this riding in Ottawa. And also to urge you to get out and vote.
Vote for who you please, but please vote.