Paths to victory will look very different as political parties gear up for election campaign: expert

OTTAWA – We are still waiting for the official election call, but for the next month and a half political parties will be doing all they can to secure your vote.

Each party will need a different strategy to claim victory.

As the polls stand right now, the Liberals and Conservatives are locked in a dead heat, with the NDP and Greens trailing far behind.

The key battlegrounds for the two front-runners will be vote-rich Ontario and Quebec.

David Coletto with Abacus Data explains if the Liberals want to return to power, they’ll have to sway the growing number of undecided voters.

“How do they convince those that are disappointed to come back, give them another chance?” he says. “It’s about convincing them that, while the Liberals are an imperfect choice, perhaps, they’re far better than the Conservatives.”

To get a competitive edge, Conservatives hope the Liberals slip up or voters stay home.

“Those motivated Conservative voters, who are very motivated, they come out and that puts the Conservatives over the top,” he hypothesizes, adding the Conservatives need to grow their base while avoiding touchy topics like abortion or gay marriage.

“It could take them off their message, right? Or if they need voters to focus on affordability, they need the message to focus on that pocketbook issue.”

For the struggling NDP, Coletto says just keeping the 39 seats they have would be considered a big win.

Meanwhile, the Greens could double their seat count to four, so as long as they can maintain that momentum, they’ll be happy.

“The question always for smaller parties is, can they convert it? And the risk is the election becomes polarized between the options.”

Canadians will head to the polls no later than Oct. 21.