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It is Day 18 of the election campaign, and polls show the Liberals have so far failed to make a dent in the Tories' lead. Wednesday's poll from battleground ridings shows the Liberals failing to make gains among women. In British Columbia, a Harris/Decima poll has the Grits in fourth, behind the NDP and the Greens.

"Usually at this point in a successful campaign, however, there is thought given to forming a transition team," Jane Taber writes in her article Liberals shift focus to 'living for another day'.

"Senator David Smith, one of the co-chairs of the Liberal campaign, said yesterday that he wasn't 'going to get into it' when asked about transition.

" 'We're primarily campaign-focused,' he said. 'On that subject, given the front-bench strength that we have compared to even the current government … we've got a lot of people with ministerial experience … it's not as if we don't have people who haven't been there, done that.' "

Still, Stéphane Dion is optimistic about his party's chances. "This election is among the most important in the history of our country," he said Wednesday , urging fellow Liberals to dismiss critics of his campaign.

Going forward, how can the Liberals begin to turn the polls around? Which parts of the party platform are they going to focus on in the coming weeks? What kind of result can the Liberals realistically expect on Oct. 14?

Mr. Smith joined us online to take your questions on the Liberals' campaign and where they plan to go from here.

Your questions and Mr. Smith's answers appear at the bottom of this story.

Born in Toronto, David Smith was educated in Toronto, Victoria and Peterborough before attending university in Ottawa. Senator Smith earned a B.A. in Political Science from Carleton University in 1964 and an LL.B from Queen's University in 1970.

Mr. Smith has been an active member of the Liberal Party since the 1960s. In 1972 he was elected to the Toronto City Council and re-elected in 1974 and 1976. In 1976 he was also appointed President of Toronto City Council and Deputy Mayor of Toronto. From 1980 to 1984, Mr. Smith sat in the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for the riding of Don Valley East and also served in Prime Minister Trudeau's cabinet as Minister of Small Business and Tourism.

After the 1984 election, David Smith returned to the practice of law in Toronto. He also continued to play an active political role, chairing election campaigns for Prime Minister Chrétien in the 1993, 1997 and 2000 elections.

At the time of his appointment to the Senate in June 2002, Mr. Smith was Chairman of Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, one of Canada's oldest and largest law firms.

Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. HTML is not allowed. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.

Brodie Fenlon, globeandmail.com: Thank you for joining us Senator. Let's go straight to our readers:

Bobby Dy from Canada writes: When I look at the regional breakdown, it seems to me that the focus of the LPC should be on Ontario. A focus on Ontario can transform this election and the CPC are vulnerable in Ontario. The CPC seem to be self-destructing in Quebec, so some movement in the Ontario polls and this election can go down to the wire. I'm wondering if you would agree with this assessment and whether there are any plans to do just that?

Mr. Smith: It is a statistical fact, that based on the last election results, there are more ridings "in play" in Ontario than in the rest of the country combined. For example, there are only a very small number of ridings truly "in play" in Alberta, but there are many in play in Ontario.

Much of our focus will be on Ontario in the final stages of the campaign, but we're not writing off any part of the country.

Dennis Petruk from Canada writes: Senator, things seem to be going horribly wrong for the Liberals at the halfway point of the election. My question is, what are Liberal planners doing to do to revitalize the campaign, and will the use of negative attack ads be the vehicle of last resort?

Mr. Smith: We will certainly be pointing out that you can't trust the Harper government, and cite examples such as:

* double crossing income trust investors;

*- totally ignoring their own four-year fixed election date legislation, without any bona fide reason at all;

* the "in-and-out" breach of the elections law by the Conservative party, in over 60 ridings, as determined by Elections Canada, and directed by Conservative Party headquarters

However, we don't intend to use nasty "personal" attacks like the pooping puffin.

R. Carriere from Maritimes writes: Good day, Senator Smith. First, thank you for your many years of public service. Jerry Seinfeld once coined the following phrase: ' If what I am doing now is wrong, then the opposite must be right' Senator, with all due respect, the Dion-led Liberal campaign has been nothing less than a major disappointment to date. While I realize it may be difficult for you to comment on either the messenger or the message, it appears there is a great need for a drastic change of course. The question becomes: How do you turn this campaign around?

Mr. Smith: Emphasize the very strong economic records of Liberal governments. When Mulroney left office in 1993, he had a $42-billion annual operating deficit. Within several years, with Jean Chrétien as prime minister and Paul Martin as finance minister, we balanced the operating budget, paid down a lot of the accumulated debt, and left office in 2006 with a $12-billion surplus. Harper has already squandered that surplus, and in the first quarter of this year, his government went into a deficit position. Stéphane Dion has pledged not to go into debt under any circumstances, and he keeps his word. Just look at his track record at getting women candidates for this election. He promised a third of candidates would be women, and wound up getting 37 per cent, nine more than what was promised, nine more women candidates than the NDP, and 50 more women candidates than the Conservative party. Our total number of women candidates this year will be 113 out of 308.

Matthew Harper from Toronto writes: Do you think Gerard Kennedy will be able to parlay his support for Dion at the 2006 leadership convention into winning the leadership of the party at the 2009 leadership convention?

Mr. Smith: I rarely answer hypothetical questions and this will not be one of those rare situations. Let's wait and see the 2008 final results. As of now, no leadership convention is in the works.

Tom Taylor from Markham writes: I am what the media refers to as a "Trudeau Liberal" and I will vote Liberal again. However, this campaign is our worst since Turner's. We are running against the former head of the National Citizen's Coalition and yet we do not stress his rightwing agenda. We know Harper will weaken if not dismantle medicare, yet where is our attack on this. He is a "right to life" supporter and yet our campaign is silent on behalf of women. You know he will weaken the Canadian Federal Government to strengthen the provinces, yet where is our attack on this. Watch him transfer tax points to the provinces if he gets a majority. 'Who will speak for Canada?' Stop letting Harper set the agenda I am cheering for you but any time you want to get your message clear is not soon enough.

Mr. Smith: It is true that Harper is the most right-wing leader that Canada has ever had. As far as we know, he does not personally support a woman's right to choose, he doesn't believe in a strong central government with national standards, and he's once again proven this with his proposal for a different age on youth crime sentencing in different provinces. By the way, this proposal is almost certainly unconstitutional. However, on the subject of women, and women's issues, we are not silent and we will not be silent. Nominations are now closed and we have achieved a record number of women candidates (i.e. 113) and you can review the details of this above.

Dan Zenderman from Toronto writes: It appears to me that the media has been very unfriendly to Stéphane Dion and the Liberal campaign on whole ... is this just my personal bias or is this really happening?? What gives?? How have the Conservatives infiltrated the media?

Mr. Smith: Once Canadians get to know Stéphane Dion better, they'll view him differently. I have worked with him closely for years and I think the media totally underestimate him.

He is a person of honesty, integrity, and principle, who really believes in implementing sound public policies. His proposals on the Green Shift are a good example of this side of his personality and his has not shied away from this very important issue. His proposals are warmly welcomed by virtually all credible environmental groups as well as some credible business groups and leading academics such as Jack Mintz of the University of Calgary. His proposals have been fully costed out with figures taken from the Ministry of Finance's own projections. He is, in fact, a person of principle, honesty and integrity.

Shanaz Joan Parsan from Edgewater, NJ: Senator Smith, Why have we not seen a Green Shift 101 (or even 020) aimed to ease fears amongst people who have listened to the Conservatives claim that it is a hidden tax increase? We repeat that Liberals are making tax cuts but do not emphasize that there will be a net gain for individuals. In an uncertain economic climate, I would have expected this to happen. It simply needs more selling and there is still time. We hear in the U.S. that a shift towards energy independence is in the interest of national security, but here we allow the 'debate' to fall shallow. Will this change? Why not make it clear how the Green Shift is different to what (carbon taxes) was in place in B.C.? Will we be seeing more contrast ads? A Liberal CV versus a Conservative one would be effective I would think. If we reminded voters of all the Harper broken promises, failures and gaffes back to back, it should give us a boost. Thank You and Best Regards, Shanaz

Mr. Smith: Welcome to the Canadian election. Shanaz is perfectly correct. This is a shift, not an increase, to the extent that revenues increase from pollution related taxes, income taxes will be reduced by an equivalent amount, particularly for middle- and lower-income groups. As I point out in the previous response, Stéphane has not shied away from tackling this issue in spite of the fact his opponents are trying to totally distort his position. I would point out that the Green Shift proposal, which is set out thoroughly in an Action Plan for the 21st Century , (the campaign platform which was released on Monday) is explained thoroughly, with graphs and charts. It is on the record, it is clear, it is transparent. This campaign platform is 68 pages long. We don't expect all Canadians to read it, but Stéphane believes he wants to be clear, precise and on the record with regard to his policies and priorities.

Although the Conservatives have dumped all over this plan, they haven't even brought one out, and apparently have no intention of bringing out a platform. Although the NDP have claimed they are bringing one out, it has not yet seen the light of day. The only other platform that is on the record at the moment is the Green Party's and it is very brief compared to the Liberal platform.

If you would like a copy of the platform, request one from your local Liberal candidate's campaign headquarters.

Alex Ferguson from Toronto writes: Senator Smith, I think in weighing the two options between 1) another disastrous New Conservative government (possibly a majority) and 2) forming working partnerships with the NDP, Greens and others would be a no-brainer. Given that Mr. Dion contends that 'this election is among the most important in the history of our country', why is he opposed to a coalition government with other parties, which could halt the current direction this country is heading in?

Mr. Smith: I think that Jack Layton has been talking about other opposition parties joining into a coalition to make him prime minister. In my opinion, the odds on the NDP winning more seats than the Liberals are so remote, that it isn't worth talking about. If, in fact, voters are afraid of a Harper majority, the logical and strategic thing to do is vote Liberal.

Edward Brown from Hamilton writes: Dear Senator Smith, I know that the Liberal Party was backed into a corner to support the Afghanistan mission at that time. Now with Mr. Harper holding onto the cost of this travesty, and being his arrogant self by not wanting the figures released to the public until after Oct. 14, why then isn't Mr. Dion hammering away at this as another issue regarding the trust and dishonesty of Mr. Harper? I have heard it is estimated at approximately $22-billion and the mission has longer to go Also, I wish more was being said regarding Mr. Harper allowing his cabinet to bring forward free votes, which most certainly will bring back the issue of abortion rights and the right of women to chose. This should bring more women back to the Liberal fold if what the press is reporting is true about the difficulty of Mr. Dion attracting female voters. The Conservative Party is still the old Reform and Alliance Party with a smattering of the odd Conservative from the eastern provinces. Thank You

Mr. Smith: I take your point with regard to the cost of the Afghanistan mission. I don't have those figures at hand, but I acknowledge that you have raised a valid question. With regard to your comment on women voters, I hope that our high number of women candidates (37 per cent) will help bring back more women voters into the fold. You are also correct in raising the issue of "free votes." Harper did promise more, but they haven't happened. Once again, actions always speak louder than words.

Jorge Barandiaran from Canada writes: What is your policy on the recent financial turmoil in the U.S.? Will the Liberal Party support the laissez faire policies of the Bush administration that lead us to the present situation?

Mr. Smith: The Liberal Party is historically responsible for most of the legislation that currently regulates our banking industry, and we have a much stronger and more highly regulated banking system than the United States. Our finance critic, the Hon. John McCallum, is a Ph.D in ecnomics, a former dean at McGill, a former senior vice-president and chief economist of the Royal Bank of Canada, a former parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance, and a former minister of national revenue. He is undoubtedly the most qualified person in the current Parliament to handle these issues. As to whether we will support the "laissez faire" policies of the Bush administration, we are not sycophants of the U.S. Republican government like the Harper government and never will be

Brodie Fenlon, globeandmail.com: I'm afraid we've run out of time. Senator, thank you once again for giving up an hour of your time during this busy campaign to take questions.