OTTAWA — While many Canadians are closely watching the never-ending twists and turns of the U.S. presidential race, party officials and elections observers in this country are keeping eyes on the race for other forms of intel: namely, how the campaigns are conducting voter outreach in an era where door knocking and rallies aren’t safe ways to spread your message.
Talk of a snap fall federal election in Canada has ceased, meaning voters aren’t likely to be plunged into a general election anytime soon. Though with a surging wave of new COVID-19 cases the Liberal minority is still not on entirely solid ground as they continue to navigate the country through the ongoing public health emergency.
That means all sides are having to work on their election-readiness plans, and looking to how our American neighbours are navigating questions like, how to get your leader as much public exposure as possible without putting them, and others, at risk? How to structure debates or virtual town halls? Where to deploy campaign resources like volunteers and advertising dollars? And what do to about an influx of mail-in voting and the delayed results that brings with it? So far, the approaches taken south of the border offer a stark contrast: U.S. President Donald Trump’s back on the campaign trail, planning more big crowd and mask-light Republican campaign events on the heels of a COVID-19 outbreak infecting Trump and many in his inner White House circle. Meanwhile, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has opted for a more virtual-focused and modest gathering campaign style that recently enlisted the help of a Canadian gaming company to reach Gen Z and Millennial voter “COVID has impacted everything that we’re doing, there is no kind of traditional campaigning,” said Biden’s campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon during a September interview with Politico.
Source: .ctvnews.ca
Saturday, April 18, 2026
