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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.
Liberal Senator David Smith
" '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.
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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?
