Three former MPs offer advice for candidates

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – With less than four weeks to go until we cast our ballots, candidates are likely feeling the crunch to get their messages out. Three former MPs are giving us an idea of what’s going on behind the scenes, and have some advice for those who hope to follow in their footsteps.

Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh says if you had the money and the manpower, you’d be canvassing people, trying to figure out what issues are might shift their stances and bring them over to your side. “And you’d be sending them specific mail, mailings, and any leaflets, telephone calls, that’s what you do, and you get volunteers to do door to door along with you or separate from you and you try and connect with as many people as you can.”

New Democrat, Libby Davies, explains there are two levels to campaigns. “There’s the national campaign, the central campaign where the leader is engaged in traveling across the country, and certainly, Mr. Mulcair has been a very frequent visitor to BC and to Metro Vancouver, but then there’s also local campaigns.”

Davies adds candidates may need to be creative in grabbing peoples’ attention, perhaps going to places they aren’t expected, or organizing a forum.

Conservative, Stockwell Day agrees face-to-face interaction is key. “People are getting so bombarded with information from all parties, that gets to be a bit of a challenge, and that’s why at this point, door knocking, morning, noon and night is so important, because people get to see you as an individual person.”