Liberals, Conservatives ask Canadians to vote strategically as campaign wraps up

After a month of campaigning, Canada’s federal election looks poised to be a fight to the finish as the campaign enters its final weekend. Cormac Mac Sweeney reveals what leaders are doing to secure votes down the stretch.

By Cormac Mac Sweeney

OTTAWA (CityNews) ─ After a month of campaigning, Canada’s federal election looks poised to be a fight to the finish as the campaign is in its final weekend.

Many polls still show a tight race between the Liberals and Conservatives, with the NDP in a distant third.

Experts say this race will come down to the wire.

“I just think it’s a mug’s game to try and predict this one,” said Lydia Miljan, political scientist at the University of Windsor.

While the numbers point to a likely minority government, a majority may also be in the cards.

“There are so many too-close-to-call ridings,” said Miljan. “And if a lot of those go in one direction rather than the other, that could shift to very close to majority territory.

“There are a lot of seats in play in the Toronto area, in Ontario, there are a lot of seats in British Columbia, and even Quebec is a wild card.”

For party leaders in this tight race, the final days of campaigning will be crucial. The frontrunners are pushing a message of strategic voting.

“Where the Liberals will say, ‘don’t vote for the NDP because that will secure a Conservative victory,’ and the Conservatives will say, ‘don’t vote for the PPC because that will secure a Liberal victory,’” said Miljan.

Another major factor will be voter turnout. Despite record advance and mail-in ballots, there is a good chance the pandemic keeps people home and voter turnout low.

Voters can expect a big push to get supporters to the ballot box with a bombardment of TV and radio ads, flyers, phone calls, text messages and emails. In some cases, parties may even offer to drive voters to their polling station.

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