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Canadian election campaign gets personal

Posted on: Tuesday, 29 November 2005, 19:11 CST

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.

Source: REUTERS

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