Jocelyn Coulon

During his campaign, Coulon criticized the Conservative government of Stephen Harper on the handling of the War in Afghanistan, accusing them of complying with the policy of US President George W.

[2] His nomination was heavily criticized by the B'nai Brith Canada Jewish group which accused him of being anti-American and anti-Israel because of his views on Middle East issues such as the Hamas-Israel-Lebanon conflict.

For the most part, the campaign was a tight race between the two candidates, however late polls pointed to an NDP victory, with visits from star party members Ken Dryden and Justin Trudeau unable to regain the lead for the Liberals.

In addition, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald reported that unidentified "Dion loyalists" were accusing Michael Ignatieff supporters of undermining by-election efforts.

[6] Though Ignatieff phoned up Dion to deny the allegations, The Globe and Mail suggested that the report had a negative impact on the Liberals' morale, citing the NDP's widening lead after the article's release.