While it isn’t (exactly) campaigning, I personally suspect that one of the reasons why the participation rate in Canada has dropped below 60% is because of political over-exposure. After a series of very short parliaments due to minority governments mixed in with some provincial political and municipal campaigns most Canadians are really tired of politics, and they just want the people they elected to figure out the “Small Stuff” on their own; and to only bother them when something big or important happens.
With that in mind, a week doesn’t go by without the government or one of the opposition parties playing politics with a small issue in an effort to try to win points with the electorate. While they are all successful in the short run, in the long run their efforts counter each other out; and they just turn off more and more voters.
