Will the Campbell Liberals try to fly under the radar until the legislature resumes sitting in October? They have the opportunity to duck out of sight and hope that by not being visible their prospects will improve. The federal election will dominate the news in June, and few want to think about politics for the rest of summer. It will take a lot of effort, for either the opposition or the government, to create enough attention provincial issues to compete with distractions over the next three months.

Campbell is so unpopular that merely seeing him in the news could help drive down the polling numbers. Perhaps flying under the radar is their best strategy for a bounce in polls by fall when the pre-election campaign will get underway with nomination meetings.

Government backbenchers who know that they are being thrown overboard may not be willing to accept a sit back and hope strategy. They are likely looking for ways to raise their profiles and improve their prospects.

The government is trapped by circumstances that it cannot control on matters like the competition bureau's review of the BC Rail sale, the RCMP raid on the legislature and the prospect of charges, the special prosecutor's recommendations on Doug Walls, and the first ministers' meeting this summer. Perhaps that is why the Campbell government is actively seeking to compete with distractions in the news and generate stories it feels it can control.

Another staged joint cabinet meeting with Alberta is an example of the government's media strategy. The meeting might make the local news in Prince Rupert where the meeting is being held, but don't expect it to knock federal election coverage off the front page. According to the government's news release, the first joint cabinet meeting resulted in "An agreement between the Ministry of Education and Alberta Learning to jointly acquire and develop learning resources will result in potential annual savings of $350,000 for each province." There is no mechanism for the public to determine whether this figure was picked out of the air, or is based on fact.

Ten ministers from each province, about a third of the Campbell cabinet, will attend the joint cabinet meeting and hold a news conference at 2 PM on Wednesday, May 26th. You can expect more announcements that defy verification, but it probably doesn't matter since few will notice that the meeting took place.