Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party secured a majority government in Canada’s federal election Monday, ending the nine-year reign of Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.

With just a 78-day campaign cycle – still the longest in modern Canadian history – you would think the parties would gear their limited time toward informing the public about their policies rather than engaging in dirty political tricks.

However, even in a country supposedly known for its politeness and civil discourse, dirty politics once again reared its ugly head.

On Oct. 13, cameras captured a major donor to a local Conservative candidate’s campaign tearing down his opponents’ signs. When pressed, the man asserted that he was “just doing his job,” sparking allegations that the vandalism was conducted under the candidate’s orders.

This is now the fourth straight election cycle in which the Conservative Party has faced a criminal investigation over an election law violation.

Additionally, in 2006, the party pleaded guilty to a so-called “In-and-Out” scandal (no, not hamburger-related, unfortunately) in which the party shifted money around in order to circumvent campaign spending limits.

In 2011, a Conservative Party staffer went to jail for coordinating automated “Robo-calls” to voters directing them to the wrong polling stations. In 2014, one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s advisers – ironically, his ethics spokesperson – went to jail for attempting to cover up fraudulent campaign overspending during the 2008 election.

The pursuit of political leadership is supposed to be a noble one, wherein individuals sacrifice their time and energy in order to serve as a voice for the unheard masses. But when power and personal gain become priorities, the worst traits come out in politicians.

Here in the U.S., dirty politics are just as prevalent. The infamous Watergate scandal that crumbled Richard Nixon’s presidency is the foremost example, but there’s certainly been no shortage of controversies over the years.

For example, presidential debates, which often play a huge role in the outcome of elections, are frequent targets for political trickery in the U.S.

During the first televised presidential debate in 1960 between John F. Kennedy (JFK) and Richard Nixon, Kennedy’s team became aware of Nixon’s proneness to sweating and secretly turned up the thermostat by a few degrees.

Sure enough, Nixon poured sweat during the debate while JFK looked youthful, calm and relaxed. Kennedy later won the election by a tight margin, and polling showed that nearly half of voters were influenced by the candidates’ debate performances, suggesting that the temperature increase may have ultimately decided the election.

An even more egregious example was the 1980 debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, which took place just one week before the election. Just prior to the debate, Carter’s debate prep book outlining his strategy and talking points was stolen from the White House and delivered to Reagan’s campaign. Reagan went on to dominate the debate and win the election in a landslide, and the FBI was never able to identify the thief.

These are just national examples; political trickery is surely just as common, if not more prevalent, at the state and local levels.

While the U.S. may take the cake when it comes to high-stakes political trickery, Canada is just as prone to such dishonest tactics, despite its popular perception as a squeaky-clean, polite and uncontroversial nation.

Russell Behrmann is a senior communication major from Bellevue. He can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of The Office of Student Media.