In House Panel: June 27

Is the Canadian political landscape becoming more Americanized?

That's the question our In House panelists Tasha Kheiriddin and Mark Kennedy debate this week.

The blink-and-you-missed-it HarperPAC came barreling onto the political scene in response to to left-leaning, union-funded organizations such as Engage Canada. That group was launched earlier this month by former NDP and Liberal strategists.

Even though HarperPAC barely made it a week before it shut down, the arrival of third-party political action committees signals a shake-up for the way politics — and elections — are done in Canada. 

And you can't talk about elections, fairness and campaign laws without mentioning former Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro who was sentenced and imprisoned this week for violating the Canada Elections Act.

Images of Del Mastro being led away in shackles will provide fuel for the Liberals and NDP on their summer 'barbecue' campaign trail, when politicians flip patties and try to woo potential voters.

"It's the attack ad waiting to happen," says Kheiriddin. "This kind of thing is manna to the opposition. I think they're going to go to town with it."

As Kennedy puts it: "If you're Stephen Harper, you have to look at this and go, 'My God, what timing.'"

Tasha Kheiriddin is a columnist for the National Post and iPolitics and Mark Kennedy is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief for the Ottawa Citizen.