Beat 'em in the alley

While significant analysis has been given to the content of election TV ads, this page has not seen much analysis regarding where the parties are buying time to air those ads.

What I have noticed, as I watch more sports on TV than is probably good for me, is that the Conservatives are aggressively courting the nation's jock-riding couch potatoes. The CPC has bought substantial airtime on TSN, Rogers Sportsnet, and The Score, and hardly a time out, halftime, or intermission goes by without those shaking heads and the 'STAND UP FOR CANADA' road sign. If you're scoring at home, this page keeps expecting a Bart Simpson type to switch the letters around to read "FORT UP NADS CANADA".

Much of the country will be forting up our nads...er...standing up for Canada in front of our TV's later today when this country's surprising national junior hockey team takes on the Russians for the World Championship. However, the political season has collided with the hockey season: Vancouver's tournament organizers charge the Martin Liberals with backing out of a pledge to match the BC Government's contribution to the event. Victoria gave $1.3 million, while Ottawa chose to match its contribution from the 2003 Halifax WJHC of $25,000.

The key to any successful power play is timing, and in this case, the Liberals have none. Not so long ago, the Martin gang was all over Vancouver's 2010 Olympic bid, shovelling money for such dubious necessities as the Canada Line (formerly the RAV Line) and twinning the Sea-to-Sky highway. This high-profile involvement may have brokered some local goodwill toward the Liberals during last June's election.

However, when a high-profile athletic event shows up in the middle of a campaign in an area with several battleground ridings (including Vancouver Quadra, where Sport Minister Stephen Owen is anything but a mortal lock), shortchanging the locals amounts to a shorthanded goal for the opposition, particularly when the game will be right back after these messages...