Tories open election headquarters

I just wonder if the Tories aren't hoping that they will be defeated in the near future as their ratings approach majority status. It remains to be seen what the Tories will do with the revised Clean Air Act that they oppose.

The rest of the article is at the Globe and Mail.Tories open door to battle-ready headquarters
Liberals decry '17,000-square-foot fear factory' and launch of attack ads
GLORIA GALLOWAY

OTTAWA -- The expansive and battle-ready Conservative campaign headquarters was opened to journalists for a one-time-only viewing yesterday even as two cabinet ministers denied the party has any desire to go to the polls.

Reporters were permitted to stroll through the 17,000-square-foot war room before being ushered into the adjoining television studio to view the latest attack ad against Stéphane Dion, which will begin airing today.

"We've taken the big and costly step of opening this facility because [Liberal Leader] Stéphane Dion has put the country on notice," Environment Minister John Baird said at a heavily scripted news conference. "He's told Canadians he wants to go back to power as soon as possible."

Mr. Baird would not discuss the cost of renting the roomy space on the second floor of a non-descript building in a southeast Ottawa industrial park. But he said the Conservatives will keep it fully equipped and ready for action until voting day, even if that means paying the bills until 2009.


"We are trying to demonstrate that we will be ready if Mr. Dion tries to call an election again like he did last week [when Liberals voted against the budget]," Mr. Baird said.

It has been known for several months that the Conservatives had been tapping into their overflowing bank account to prepare the headquarters for the campaign. But, until yesterday, even the exact address was kept under wraps.

Now the public has been given a long look at the Conservative campaign's central command -- from the multiple, identical posters of Stephen Harper that are plastered on most walls to the overhead signs that mark the seating plan for teams that will be put into action when the vote is called.

Desks and chairs that seem freshly removed from their bubble wrap are arranged in groups of four. Each station has a new computer. Although it has been described in previous media reports as a bunker, a wide rim of windows circles the room and a new swath of carpet covers the floor.

The television studio is equipped with lights, cameras, a Teleprompter and a backdrop of screens that say Leadership -- a slogan that the party will use to define Mr. Harper during the campaign -- and to distinguish him from Mr. Dion.

When Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, who also took part in the press conference, said that he sincerely hopes "we won't have to use this facility until 2009," the press gallery erupted in hoots of laughter. Rumours have been floating for months that the Conservatives hope to engineer their own defeat to take advantage of support that is nudging majority territory.

In addition to attack ads against the Liberal Leader, Canadian Press reported yesterday that the Conservatives will launch radio and newspaper ads today hitting back at Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams for accusing the government of breaking an equalization promise to his province. The Liberals were critical of the Tories yesterday over the show of force.

"It's a very interesting thing when you see a government opening up a 17,000-square-foot fear factory -- campaign office, war room -- followed by a reannouncement of yet another million dollars or more in television ads, millions of dollars being spent now to attack the Leader of the Official Opposition," Ottawa Liberal MP David McGuinty said.

"It's very rich for the government to start speaking about the Leader of the Official Opposition apparently trying to provoke an election campaign when, by conduct, most Canadians are seeing now that this government wants to defeat itself."

Mr. McGuinty refused to speculate about what types of issues would force his party to vote against the Conservatives on a motion that would bring the government down. But he suggested that the Liberals have little appetite for a spring election.

"Not a single Canadian that I have met in the last 14 months has said it is time for an election campaign," Mr. McGuinty said.

And it is difficult to see why the Conservatives would be eager. The polls may be leaning in their favour but a majority, which would be the only good reason to go back to the electorate, is far from certain.

Which is why some pundits suggest yesterday's tour may be little more than sabre-rattling on the part of the government.

"What I've been thinking is that this has been a bluff all along, which is 'Hey, we're willing to go any minute,' " said Nelson Wiseman, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

"That's why they're running the negative ads," Prof. Wiseman said. "They are trying to cow the opposition."

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