OTTAWA
— If you live in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, chances are that Greg Kung has knocked on your door.
The 37-year-old has been campaigning since February 2024, after winning the nomination to become the Conservative party’s candidate in the Liberal-held riding, one of many in and around Ottawa.
“I hate talking about numbers,” Kung says, when asked how many doors he has knocked.
“Probably by this weekend, I’ll have hit 22,000 doors, personally.”
His campaign has lapped the riding five times, he adds.
But for Kung, and every other candidate with their name on a ballot, this latest round of door-knocking will be the most important one.
With voting in advanced polls underway, campaign teams have transitioned to the all-important task of making sure each voter they have identified as a supporter actually goes to cast their ballot.
And with less than 10 days to go before the federal election concludes, it is also the last chance campaigns have to convince undecided voters.
Kung’s pitch is one of change
— a message Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is trying to send loud and clear as successive public opinion polls show his party to be either tied with or trailing the incumbent Liberals.
It is a far tighter race than the 20-point lead Conservatives enjoyed for the 18-months before Mark Carney replaced Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader, and U.S. President Donald Trump launched his trade war.
For Marc Toste, a Conservative supporter who recently moved to the riding, the chances of the party winning were top of mind when Kung appeared at his door Friday. It marked the third time Kung had done so.
“I actually asked Mr. Kung what he thought,” Toste told National Post.
“He says internal polling looks good for us, but the mainstream media says it’s close,” Toste says, “so he’s out gallivanting trying to promote himself and the voters locally here, and see what happens.”
While the suburbs around Toronto and Vancouver form the country’s biggest battlegrounds, the suburbs around Ottawa can also swing with the prevailing electoral winds.
During the last federal election, which was held under the riding’s former boundaries, the Liberals recaptured Kanata by a little more than 2,000 votes.
In the past the region has also elected Conservatives, such as former foreign affairs minister, John Baird, whose Ottawa West—Nepean riding included parts of the newly-formed Kanata riding when he served under former prime minister Stephen Harper.
Nearby is also home to Poilievre’s own riding of Carleton, some of which now belongs in Kanata.
That means if there is a Conservative win nationally, Kung could find himself in Parliament.
As a paramedic, he says he actually has a shift booked two days after the April 28 election. It is one he still hopes to work, no matter the outcome.
“It’s a great job,” he said.
Before the election was called, Kung says he switched to nights so he could spend his afternoons campaigning.
Some of the relationships he has built were on display Friday as he walked the streets of one neighbourhood where his Conservative-blue campaign signs dotted lawns.
“Don’t worry, I’m voting for you. I told you that before,” one man says, after Kung knocked his door with a reminder that early voting was happening.
“I know,” Kung says with a laugh back to him. “We just wanted to wish you a happy Easter and just say thanks for putting up the sign, as well.”
As he walks to other homes, Kung shrugs off the concerns expressed by other Conservatives,
, a senior Ontario Progressive Conservative strategist and Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s last campaign manager, about Poilievre not focusing enough of the campaign on Trump’s tariffs and too much on affordability.
The riding Kung is now trying to flip did not go Ford’s way in the most recent provincial election, as the Ontario Liberals held onto it after capturing it in a byelection from the Ontario PCs.
“It’s just noise, frankly,” Kung said of other Conservatives’ concerns.
Poilievre’s message around affordably and crime are resonating, he says.
Despite his optimism, polling aggregator
to be likely in incumbent Jenna Sudds’ favour.
S
ome of her support may also be buoyed by a weaker NDP vote, a factor playing out in races across the country, which poses a major challenge for the Conservatives, who have historically relied on New Democrats splitting the centre-left vote.
First elected federally in 2021, Sudds, a former city councillor, was promoted to Trudeau’s cabinet as the minister for families in 2023. After Carney was sworn in as prime minister last month, he shuffled her out.
In a phone interview with National Post, Sudds says she “respects those decisions” and saw Carney assemble a team of ministers whose portfolios were largely around Canada-U.S. relations.
She also notes the buzz around Carney, someone whom she expects needs no introduction in the riding, given his time spent in Ottawa, in both business and public service.
Contrast Carney’s background with Poilievre’s political style
—
which even some Conservative candidates and volunteers have said is being perceived by some voters as too aggressive
— Sudds says that is adding to voters’ excitement.
Not only does the trade war and Trump’s comments about annexing Canada come up often, she suggests it is impacting how seriously Canadians are taking their vote.
“People are really paying attention,” she says. “Based on the conversations I’m having, I do expect the turnout will be quite high.”
Suspicions that could be the case were heightened when across the country on Friday voters and local campaigns saw hour-long lineups at advanced polling stations. One complicating factor is the fact early voting is happening over Easter weekend.
Which party will benefit most from Canadians who have already gone to the polls won’t be known until the election concludes.
For her part, Sudds’ campaign estimates having knocked on “tens of thousands of doors” from “every corner of the riding.”
For Kung, who worked on Parliament Hill the last time the Tories were in government, one of his biggest takeaways from the transition to candidate from staffer has been the amount of work it takes.
“People care about this country and the only way that you can really find out what they’re actually thinking is by knocking on their doors,” he says.
He also suggests he would be open to running again, should he be unsuccessful this time around.
“I wouldn’t rule it out, for sure.”
National Post
staylor@postmedia.com
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