Canadian election campaign gets personal

By Gilbert Le Gras and Randall Palmer

OTTAWA (Reuters) – It was expected to be hard-edged,
personal and nasty, and less than half a day into Canada’s
election campaign it turned out to be just that.

Prime Minister Paul Martin kicked off what is likely to be
a bruising eight-week campaign on Tuesday by portraying his
main rival as mean-spirited and unpatriotic.

“So, what do you think of your Christmas present from
Stephen Harper,” Martin said to at his first Liberal Party
campaign rally, blaming Conservative leader Harper for forcing
an election campaign over the Christmas holidays.

“What family doesn’t look forward to gathering together on
Christmas eve, sipping on some hot chocolate and sharing in the
joy of watching Stephen Harper appear as Scrooge on TV.”

Martin’s 17-month-old minority Liberal government was
defeated in a confidence motion Monday night, prompting a
general election for January 23.

Martin has already accused the opposition of cynicism,
saying it brought down the government for no good reason.

“I believe ambition has overwhelmed common sense,” he said
on Tuesday morning, after announcing the election date.

Later, at the campaign rally, he also took a jab at
Harper’s patriotism: “This morning I am told that Stephen
Harper had a little difficulty saying this, so let me say it: I
love Canada,” he told party faithful to thunderous applause.

Earlier in the day Harper had answered the blunt question:
“Do you love Canada?” in a positive way, but without using the
words “I love Canada.”

Later, Harper shot back: “Today the Liberals suggested that
I do not love this country. They suggested that people who
don’t vote Liberal don’t love this country. Now that is what
we’re going to expect. It’s mean and it saddens me.”

He said he did not doubt the Liberals love Canada, “but the
problem is they love power too much.”

SEEKING FIFTH TERM

The Liberals, who have governed a majority of the time
since Canada was founded in 1867, are seeking their fifth
straight term since the Conservatives were defeated in 1993.

Martin’s task is to deflect attention from a scandal over
kickbacks to prominent Liberal Party members in Quebec from a
federal sponsorship program.

He will point out that he was personally exonerated by a
judicial inquiry and will seek to show that the Liberals are
the party of the future.

All three opposition parties have said they will focus on
clean government in their campaigns, but they also must roll
out ideas to persuade the public they are not just
anything-but-Liberals.

Harper vied with Martin to present an image of hope for the
future and referred repeatedly to the need for change after 12
years of Liberal rule, a sentiment reflected in polls.

“On January 23, you will finally be able to hold the
Liberals accountable for stealing your money, accountable for
breaking your trust and accountable for failing to deliver on
your priorities,” he said on national television.

The Liberals also pounced on other remarks Harper made on
gay marriage to reporters on Tuesday. Harper said that if he
became prime minister he would look at introducing legislation
banning gay marriages, which were legalized in July.

Liberal spokesman Marc Roy derided the remarks as “very
right-wing” and an attempt to “topple human rights.”

Harper believes the issue resonates with a substantial
segment of Canadians, including many immigrants, who usually
vote Liberal.

The other two opposition parties, the separatist Bloc
Quebecois and the left-leaning New Democratic Party, look set
to gain enough seats to prevent either the Liberals or the
Conservatives from getting a majority in Parliament.

An Ipsos-Reid poll taken Monday night after the government
fell showed the Liberals’ lead over the Conservatives had
vanished and the two parties were now tied at 31 percent,
followed by the leftist New Democratic Party at 18 percent.

In Quebec, the separatist Bloc Quebecois leads the Liberals
by 58 percent to 24 percent.

Three other polls released on Monday and Tuesday, but taken
before the confidence vote, put the Liberals at 35 to 36
percent, five to six points ahead of the Conservatives.