OTTAWA—Pity Atlantic Canada, left out of the steady stream of political rallies, stump speeches and photo ops in the lead-up to Canada’s 42nd federal election.

Or envy them, depending on how you feel about the 57 days remaining in this extended election campaign.

A Star analysis of the four main federal party leaders’ travels between Jan. 1 and Aug. 1, 2015, shows the Atlantic region has been largely left off the itinerary.

The Star analysis tracked the party leaders’ public events through notices sent to the Parliamentary Press Gallery. The results are by no means complete — there are plenty of events that we’re not notified of — but do paint a picture of the strategies and styles of the four main parties.

While Atlantic Canada, the Prairies and the Territories are largely left out of the electioneering, Toronto, British Columbia’s Lower Mainland and Quebec have had plenty of attention.

In the first seven months of the year, the leaders of the Conservatives, NDP, Liberals and Greens held a total of 176 events in Ontario, mostly in and around the GTA. That’s the largest total, by far, of any province or region — largely due to the number of seats up for grabs in and around the city.

Quebec, where the New Democrats are trying to maintain their historic gains from the 2011 election, saw a total of 66 events — 34 for NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair alone.

A total of 33 events in British Columbia were held by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau. Green party Leader Elizabeth May, the only MP elected for the Greens in 2011, held 68 events in B.C.

In terms of style, each leader appears to have his or her own preferred event type. In the seven months leading up to the election, Harper held more photo ops than any other party leader (32), and had the fewest events where the primary purpose was to respond to media questions (1).

“The NDP and the Liberals need to use different methods to get their message out and, frankly, doing public appearances is cheaper,” said Michelle Austin, a senior adviser with Summa Strategies and Conservative commentator.

“Nothing stands out for me with the prime minister. He’s very predictable.”

In January, the knock on Mulcair was that Canadians weren’t familiar with him. After 132 public events, mostly community events (32), Mulcair’s party has been leading in the national polls.

Mulcair has also held the most media availabilities (17) of party leaders on the road, likely a function of the party’s desire to familiarize Canadians with their leader.

“Mulcair . . . has a totally different value proposition for voters, which is one that rests on voters believing that momentum exists,” said Ian Capstick, a former NDP strategist turned media consultant.

“That’s really why you’re seeing these types of numbers.”

Trudeau, meanwhile, has travelled to more ridings held by his opponents than other party leaders — 77 per cent of his public events were held in ridings controlled by the Conservatives or NDP.

This is both a function of the other two parties simply holding more seats, and Trudeau’s wide-ranging travel schedule that has taken him to 110 events in 10 provinces and Territories.

“He’s travelled the furthest; there’s been a concerted effort to get him in as many communities as possible,” said Amanda Alvarro, a Liberal strategist with the Trudeau campaign.

“You see that all leaders have a little bit more concentrated time in Ontario and Quebec. That makes sense for a whole bunch of reasons. But, and I think the (Trudeau) campaign is a reflection of this as well, you know, the country doesn’t begin and end in Ontario and Quebec.”

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Following the leaders: Regional analysis

A Star analysis of the first eight months of the year shows not all parts of the country got equal attention from the federal party leaders.

Ontario: The bulk of the parties’ pre-election travels in 2015 moved through the GTA, where the three main parties hope to pick up new seats — and hold the ones they already have. NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair led his competition with 64 visits in and around Toronto, with Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau coming in with 46 and 45 visits respectively. The New Democrats are hoping for a breakthrough in the city’s suburbs, the Conservatives are looking to hold them, and the Liberals are hoping for signs of their former dominance in the city.

Quebec: Early polling in the election campaign suggests the New Democrats will likely retain much of their 2011 “Orange Wave” breakthrough in Quebec. But the notoriously politically fickle province has surprised pollsters before. Before the election, the Conservatives largely focused their leaders’ travels in the Quebec City area, where they’ve had success in the past. Both Mulcair and Trudeau have focused more on Montreal — but Mulcair has spent by far the most time in la belle province.

British Columbia: The last of the Big Three is B.C.’s Lower Mainland. Polling before the election campaign indicated a two-way race in the Vancouver area between the New Democrats and Conservatives, but Trudeau has spent almost as much time (11 visits) as Mulcair (14). Green party Leader Elizabeth May has spent the bulk of the year holding events in the riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands, the riding that first sent her to the House of Commons in 2011. May has held a total of 68 events in B.C. alone in 2015, and has put together a slate of Vancouver candidates that could give the other three parties a run.

Alberta and Prairies: Like long stretches of wheat fields on the side of the TransCanada, the Prairies have not generated much attention from the parties’ leadership in 2015. As prime minister, Harper only made 10 visits to the region before the election, tied with Mulcair, who limited his public events to Alberta and Saskatchewan. Trudeau held 25 events in Alberta and Manitoba, mostly around Calgary and Winnipeg. May made two trips to Alberta for a total of five events, but skipped the Prairies completely.

Atlantic Canada: Atlantic Canadians could be forgiven for believing the federal election actually stopped at the Quebec border. All four party leaders tracked by the Star have paid little attention to the Maritimes (and Newfoundland and Labrador), for a total of 31 public events in the provinces. There are individual ridings in Toronto that have seen more action. Only Mulcair has bothered to visit Newfoundland, and Trudeau was the only party leader to hit Prince Edward Island before the election.

—Alex Boutilier

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