Trudeau, Mulcair, Harper all in the Lower Mainland in last campaign weekend

LOWER MAINLAND (NEWS 1130) – With the election happening on Monday, all three main federal party leaders will be spending some time this weekend trying to sway voters in the Lower Mainland.

This comes has the latest Angus Reid poll puts the Liberals four points ahead of the Conservatives among eligible voters.

Justin Trudeau, Thomas Mulcair and Stephen Harper will all be spending the last days before the election here in BC.

Political Scientist David Moscrop with UBC says this confirms that each party thinks BC is a key battleground.

“The election could well be decided before it gets to BC. We can’t know that for sure yet because things are so close. Given the scarcity of resources, it’s not particularly surprising that the party leaders have decided to mobilize them to what’s seen as likely to be a very competitive battleground.”

He says there are a number of seats up for grabs in BC. “There are two-way races, and even a few three-way races. So, there’s a lot of attention being paid here. The rest is pretty much locked up for the Conservatives.

“The east is pretty much locked up for the Liberals; Ontario is now trending Liberal. BC is probably the least decided province at the moment. Because there are more seats here than there were in the previous election, there’s a lot of valuable real estate to be picked up.”

Harper will be in Abbotsford, where ridings are usually Conservative.

“It seems to indicate that he’s a little bit concerned that there are traditionally Conservative ridings that might be up for grabs. We’ve seen some of that shake loose,” says Moscrop.

“There’s been some re-districting that’s had somewhat of an impact on seat projections and the probability that any given party might win. It is a somewhat defensive move on the part of the Conservatives and it’s certainly indicative that they’re, at best, hoping for a minority.”

He says BC could play a key role in the Liberals’ quest for a majority.

“If the Liberals want a majority, they’re going to have to do fairly well in British Columbia or they’re going to have to do extremely well in Ontario and Quebec, which seems unlikely. It could be that the Liberals are in a minority position before we’re done counting in BC. But they certainly won’t be in a majority position until all the votes are tallied up in BC — and even then, it seems fairly unlikely.”