Belinda Stronach pulled out the biggest political weapon in her arsenal yesterday by enlisting former Ontario premier Mike Harris to take part in a cross-Canada phone blitz urging Conservatives to vote for her in Saturday's leadership contest.
With just three days left before the vote, both Ms. Stronach and former Ontario health minister Tony Clement stepped up their efforts to contact party members, with the Stronach campaign leaving voice-mail messages recorded by Mr. Harris on the phones of 240,000 English-speaking party members.
Mr. Clement, for his part, posted videos on the Internet in an effort to make up ground on acknowledged front-runner Stephen Harper.
The moves came as the party began its effort to shape policy for the election campaign. A policy document is expected to be sent out to party members later this week. In it, the party will drop a long-held Canadian Alliance-Reform Party policy that would give Canadians the right to recall their MPs.
In his recorded message, Mr. Harris questions the ability of Mr. Harper to win the country, saying that Ms. Stronach is seen by more Canadians as a stronger opponent for Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin. He quotes an internal Stronach campaign poll that says 46 per cent of Canadians surveyed would choose a Conservative Party led by the former auto parts executive, while only 37 per cent would chose the Liberals.
"Meanwhile, Martin and Stephen Harper are statistically tied," the message says. "We merged the parties in order to win. Let's finish the job by choosing the only leader who can win."
The Harris phone campaign began this week as part of a larger effort that will also see several other high-profile politicians lend their considerable political weight to the Stronach campaign. They include former Tory cabinet ministers Elmer MacKay and Michael Wilson.
Mr. Harris, who is a member of the board of directors of Ms. Stronach's former firm, Magna International, has played a mostly backroom role in the campaign so far. Although he has shown up for the occasional event, Mr. Harris has been more active on the fundraising side of the campaign.
Although Mr. Harris's political clout may persuade some party members to support Ms. Stronach, he could also drive a wedge in the party by coming out so publicly against Mr. Harper, should he win.
Mr. Clement also made efforts yesterday to woo party members to his side in a series of Internet messages in which he argues that the Conservative Party must opt for a fresh face if it wants to beat the Liberals.
"To seize this opportunity, our new party needs a new leader," he said in one of the messages. "One with real campaign and government experience, one who can appeal to all Canadians in every region, in both official languages."
Also yesterday, all three campaigns were making efforts to bring out the vote in remote ridings and among individuals who must vote in advance.
One Stronach source said tracking in areas such as Northern Ontario showed their candidate running well. Tracking of faxed ballots showed Ms. Stronach ahead in seven ridings.
The party is allowing a large number of so-called remote ridings to cast their ballots by fax, a process that ends at noon today.
While Mr. Clement and Ms. Stronach continued to court the media, Mr. Harper does not plan to campaign today, save for a few media interviews.
Sources also told The Globe and Mail yesterday that party members will be given the right to voice their opinions on the new policy document, which is designed as an advisory document for the new leader. Chaired by MP Peter MacKay, the committee makes a number of suggestions, including support for an elected senate, tax cuts and limited use of referendums.