A Liberal and a Conservative knocked on the same door and some polite trash talk ensued

TORONTO — On the front steps of a Toronto home, two Robs appear at the same door.  The first is Rob Pierce, the Conservative candidate for Don Valley West, a solidly Liberal riding since the late 1990s, save for when the Tories captured it the last time the party won a majority government more than a decade ago. Pierce is just beginning his campaign. He was only nominated the day before the election was called, replacing Yvonne Robertson, who had been eyeing a return. “She ran twice, lost twice, and I think the party decided to try to do something different,” he told National Post. Rob Oliphant is the second candidate to appear on the crowded doorstep. The veteran Liberal incumbent has held the urban riding since 2008, losing it when the Conservatives formed government in 2011 and returning when Justin Trudeau took power in 2015. A decade later, Oliphant held off until Trudeau made it clear he was leaving before making it official that he would be running again, waiting out an unpopular leader whose name he left off campaign materials during the last federal vote. “If he had not resigned in January, it would have been tough to run,” he admits. Such is how a Liberal and a Conservative came to cross paths while canvassing on the same Toronto street, an interaction that highlighted the challenge of battling incumbency for a party that needs to pick up seats and the pitch a longtime Liberal makes to voters as to why they should give his party a fourth shot. Finding himself in the middle was a voter named Jason. “I was sort of surprised,” he said afterwards. Pierce, the first to arrive at his doorstep, was armed with a stack of campaign leaflets citing the rise in car thefts in the city, while a member of his team waited at the bottom of the steps. A few minutes into Pierce’s conversation with the voter, Oliphant darts up the stairs. “Good to meet you,” Oliphant says to his Conservative rival. “And good to meet you,” replies Pierce. Jason, a business owner who has lived in the riding for 15 years, describes the neighbourhood as overall a good one. It has schools and parks for families and is less than 20 minutes from downtown. One local issue that remains an irritant is a long-delayed Metrolinx transit project. But his concerns that day are around an earlier issue he had raised with Oliphant, which warranted unsatisfactory results. Concerns about what Oliphant has done for the riding after so long is one of the issues Pierce hears from constituents, he said. Still, the Conservative is under no illusions about the task before him when asked about his chances. “It’s a tough riding.” Several minutes after going back and forth with the voter, Oliphant announces he is moving onto the next door. “After the election, one of us will help you,” he says before pausing for a brief second. “I suspect it’ll be me.” “We’re going to make it a fight,” Pierce shoots back. Although he finds himself at the starting line of an uphill battle, the Conservative walked away with a photo of at least one voter he can count on. “I’m in my riding, I’d like to see change,” Jason told National Post. “It’s my number one view on this.” Besides incumbency, Pierce is dealing with the gender divide in Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s support. “Mr. Poilievre comes up a lot,” he says, “specifically amongst the female voters. They find him aggressive.” Pierce is hardly the first Conservative candidate to encounter this in a race where successive public opinion polls suggest Poilievre is doing well with men, particularly those aged 18 to 34, but is struggling to connect with older demographics, particularly women. When the issue does arise, Pierce says his response is to ask, “is that because he speaks bluntly?” “You can’t actually say what you think anymore, and he does say what he’s thinking,” he said. For his part, Pierce believes Poilievre should stick to his talking points. Locally, he says crime is an issue voters are raising on the doorstep, particular when it comes to break-ins, car theft and home invasions. It is also one the Conservatives are hoping drives turnout for them in big cities, as well as the cost-of-living. As for the matter of U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariffs, Pierce said he hears concerns but questions how defining an issue it is for the election. “I’m not sure it’s a federal election issue, frankly. I’m not sure that really anyone can deal with Mr. Trump.” Oliphant would disagree. Speaking in his campaign office, the incumbent says Trump has changed everything about the election, as has the entrance of Liberal Leader Mark Carney. “People are afraid.” Those two factors combined, plus the surge in national pride and worries Canadians have about the economy and their finances at a time when the Liberal leader has the background of being a two-time central banker, has led to a unique moment. “It is helping us. It’s clear as day. I can feel it.” Other issues have since faded into the background, including the government’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, which Oliphant, whose riding has both a sizeable Muslim and Jewish population, says has surprised him. It has not completely disappeared. While canvassing, Oliphant hears a man sharing concerns about the Liberals’ support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, saying he believes the incumbent to be “unfit for office.” It is a household his team crosses off their voter list as not being Liberal. On the next street over, Oliphant has better luck. “You’ve been doing a great job,” one man named Michael tells him. “You got my support.” Several doors down, a woman says tariffs are her top concern and hopes Carney can help. “It’s looming,” she said. Oliphant knows that in a campaign, things can change quickly and that mistakes can be made. However, he has experience in losing and knows what it feels like. Back in 2011, when he lost to the Conservatives and the Liberals saw their fortress in Toronto along with the outlying suburbs in the vote-rich Greater Toronto Area fall, Oliphant says he heard it at the doors, especially how many people disliked then-Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff. What hurt his vote the most was the rise of the NDP, he remembers, when the party had a historic showing and went on to form the official Opposition. Now, polls suggest NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is battling for party status. “The NDP vote is almost invisible,” Oliphant said. “I think I’ve knocked on three NDP doors.” Pierce nonetheless remains positive about his campaign. What he says he is hearing from many voters is indecision. “But, typically,” he says, “the collapse of the NDP historically means, you know, bad news for the Conservatives. Typically.” National Post staylor@postmedia.com

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