Canada election 2015: Does calling an early election save taxpayers money?

"I feel very strongly that if we're going to begin our campaigns and going to run our campaigns, that those campaigns need to be conducted under the rules of the law that the money come from the parties themselves, not from the government resources, parliamentary resources or taxpayer resources and that's what we're doing."

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper

It's been a long time since Conservative Leader Stephen Harper took five questions in a row from the parliamentary press gallery, and thefirst, during Sunday's electionlaunch at RideauHall,set the tone.

CBC's Terry Milewski asked if opting for anearly,11-week campaign gave Conservativesan unfair advantage because of the party'sdemonstrable strength infundraising.

Pundits have suggested as much for weeks.

• How a long campaign will benefit the cash-rich Tories
• Riding analysis shows spending for longer campaign favours Tory candidates
• Longer federal election campaign would cost taxpayers millions more
• 5 things that change when the campaign (really) starts

Harper's answer: The campaign's already started, so let's make it official and start operating under election rules. It's the right thing to do for taxpayers.

Stephen Harper kicks off Canada election campaign

9 years ago

Duration 22:36

Conservative leader speaks to the media in Ottawa

The spin

Few could disagree with Harper that an unofficial campaign for the Oct. 19 election had been on for months.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair'srecent mini-tour ofsouthwestern Ontario was indistinguishable from the sights and sounds of the writ period.

Recent speeches from Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau laid policy platform planks. Harper's travel earlier this year, as well assome cabinet ministers', lined up with expected battleground ridings.

Advertising both the attacking kind and the softer selling sort never really went away for the Conservatives, but definitely ramped up from all corners.

The Conservatives standaccused of using departmental ad budgets to boost the Harper government's brand. The sums aren't small $13.5 million to promote their pre-election budget, plus more to herald the dangers of taking drugs, changes tochild-care benefits or support for veterans.

Third-party organizations, influential spenders in Ontario's last election,hada free hand. Now they'recurtailed, aselection spending limitskick in under theFair Elections Act.

When Harper speaks of wanting to play by the rules, that's a lawConservativesenacted with their majority.

Have they protected taxpayers with their reforms?

Conservatives point to theirphase-out of theper-vote subsidy thatJean Chretien's government created for political parties in 2004. It intended to replacecorporate donations and large donations with public money based on a party's popular support.

But now the subsidy isgone. Parties with weaker fundraisingare disadvantaged.

The counterspin

"Mr. Harper's priority is to spend millions of dollars on self-serving government advertising and an early election call," NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said in his kickoff speech.

Liberal strategist DavidHerle said it was, "shocking that after the hundredsand hundreds of millions of dollars that havebeen spent on government advertising combinedwith the very extensive buy of partisanadvertising that they've had over the courseof the last year attacking Mr.Trudeau,that[the Tories'] justification for calling thisextraordinarily long election would be thatthe other parties have started theircampaigns."

On CBC Radio's The HouseSaturday, the former head of Elections Canada, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, chargedthat Harper was gaming the system,distorting the role of money in politics.

The $25 million spending limit for a 37-day campaign increases to over $50 million for this super-sized 11- week run to Oct.19.

But that $50 million-plus isnot just party money. It's also taxpayers' money, in two ways:

• Taxpayers rebate up to 50 per cent of parties' election expenses and60 per cent of an individual candidate's campaign costs, if they garner sufficient voter support.
• Taxpayers finance the federal political contribution tax credit, which rebates party donors75 per cent onthe first $400 and 50 per centof the rest,up to a maximum of $1,200.

Add the effect of these two together and every dollar a political party spends during an election campaign could cost taxpayers about $1.23.

"We'll be bludgeoned in our own homes by attack ads, and every single attack ad we're paying for half," said Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.

May says Harperbrought inreforms that give his party more money and disadvantage others.

"I say to StephenHarper: Shame on you for doing that," she said.

Level playing field?

Kingsleysaidthe longcampaign means publiclyfunded Elections Canada mustspend tens of millions of dollarson top of the estimated $375 million it takes to run a 37-day campaign someadministration costs, such ascampaign workersalaries, go up.

Former Reform party advisor Rick Anderson, who's now helping the Conservatives with debate strategy, panned Kingsley's views on Facebook. He's a fan of fixed election dates.

"We knew that election campaigning would inevitably begin in advance," he wrote."Until the writs are issued, there are no spending limits for any of the participants Open season; whoever has the most money has the biggest impact."

"There is no disclosureof who is funding third-party advertising. And there are no rebates," he continued.

"Once the writs are issued, then spending limits kick in these spending limits are designed to level the playing field."

The rinse

Pollster Bruce Anderson from Abacus Datasays it's an open question whether voters will care about Harper's decision to go early.

"I don't think he gave a very strong rationale, but I think he gave the best rationale that he could possibly give," he said. "I don't think that we're going to spend very many days of this campaign talking about this issue."

Anderson notesthatfor all the millions in Conservativeadvertising, the party isonly at 30 per cent in the polls.

"You might look at it and say that's a lotof money to accomplish relatively little," he said.

Toronto Star columnistChantalHbertsaidTory strategists know that Harper's narrative is shaky on this but much like his comments on same-sex marriage kicking off the 2005 election, he's putting his spin on it early, hoping to then move on.

"It certainly doestake a lot of nerve," she said on the CBC's election special."They have decided that [the early election call is]worth the risk ofa lost day."