Swiftboating OR the environment: Canada election 2008

With a 2008 poll possible, parties pick their ponies

Barbara Yaffe, Vancouver Sun

Published: Friday, December 21, 2007

With a federal election likely in the new year, Canada's two main political parties appear to have picked their issues.

For Liberals, it's the environment. For Conservatives, it's Stephane Dion.

The two partisan forces are targeting what they perceive to be their opponent's weakest link. And a just-released Angus Reid opinion poll suggests they've chosen wisely.

Twenty-six per cent -- the highest percentage -- say the most important issue facing Canada is the environment. And Harper is the preferred prime minister for 33 per cent, Dion for 14 per cent.

"Strong leadership vs. no leadership," declares the Conservative website. It mounts a merciless attack on Dion.

Dion is described as an old-style Liberal, a flip flopper, a ditherer who cannot set priorities, a weak leader and, what's more, a proponent of raising the GST.

The site includes a link to 'notaleader.ca,' enabling visitors to send a 'not a leader ecard to your friends'. It also features a 'dog blog' in which Kyoto -- the name of Dion's pet canine -- ridicules his master for being a snob, out of touch with real people.

Conservatives, interestingly, seek to play a class card. Harper is portrayed as a strong leader onside with those who work hard and play by the rules. Dion, Conservatives assert, eats his hotdogs with a knife and fork and is into rewarding his partisan pals.

After a year in the leader's job, Dion has emerged as earnest and sincere but low key and fearful of an election.

Liberals have been showcasing other members of the team -- particularly Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff -- to show strength.

The party last week staged a conference celebrating Lester Pearson's foreign policy legacy, reminding voters of the party's glory days.

But through the fall, they suffered damage by consistently supporting government initiatives. The Liberals have had weak polling numbers and limited cash for an election campaign. They had reason to fear that a ballot-box encounter would be a dangerous affair.

By December, Dion got the message that continuing to support the government would be too costly in terms of public opinion. More recently, he has dropped hints that Liberals are readying themselves for a fight in the new year.

His party's strongest card looks to be the environment.

"The challenge before us now is to ... focus on the greatest issue of our time; the fight against global warming," declares the Grit website.

"Clearly, the planet can no longer bear the demands that humanity is placing on it. We need to build a sustainable, green economy with policies that are both good for the planet and good for our wallets."

Accordingly, while Harper stayed home, Dion this month travelled to a climate-change conference in Bali -- where he engineered a meeting with environmental guru and former U.S. vice-president Al Gore.

Liberals themselves have a weak record of delivering on environmental promises. And Dion was Liberal environment minister. But, in opposition, he has worked hard to show his party's green credentials.

The Liberal website signposts that the party, in government, would make the greening of Canada its No. 1 priority.

Conservatives -- understanding the environment could be a weak link for them -- are highlighting the Liberal failure while in government to meet Kyoto Protocol targets.

They are also predicting that the Liberals' strong environmental focus would yield the worst recession in six decades and lead to a loss of 275,000 jobs.

In a not-so-subtle gesture of where their inclinations lie, the government had a delegation of business people accompany Environment Minister John Baird to Bali.

The Reid poll suggests a coming election will be a fairly tight race; Conservatives are at 33 per cent support, Liberals at 28 per cent.

To be certain, issues such as the Canadian war effort in Afghanistan, Senate reform, the future direction of child care, Arctic sovereignty, honesty in government all will play starring roles in a future campaign.

But, as things are shaping up, it's almost certain that Canadians will be bombarded with images of Dion shrugging his shoulders, looking uncertain and tripping over his English.

As well as images of smokestacks spewing pollutants, hazy skylines and effluent running into streams.

byaffe@png.canwest.com