The federal Liberals held a school for Ontario candidates while considering themselves lucky they aren't facing an election any time soon.
The party, which governed for 13 years, believes it needs time to rebuild and for its relatively new leader, Stephane Dion, to become better known.
"I will be everywhere in the country, meeting Canadians, having fun with them, and listening to what they have to propose as solutions for the country," Dion said Saturday in Ottawa.
The school is similar to one that the Conservatives held earlier this year when election speculation had reached the boiling point.
The Liberal school, for both candidates and political organizers, comes in the wake of a dismal campaign in the 2006 federal election.
Many candidates complained that former leader Paul Martin's team was disorganized and poorly prepared for that election, which saw the Liberals lose power after holding it from 1993 onward. For example, some said the platform campaign came out late and there was little campaign literature.
Dion, who became party leader in December, vowed his first campaign as leader will be different.
"We'll make sure each of our candidates are never alone. They are backed by the others. We'll have a strong mentorship system," he said.
"All of our rookie candidates are in a kind of permanent university session."
The party, however, isn't the political juggernaut it once was. In some parts of the country, most notably Quebec, it struggles to find both campaign workers and candidates.
Money is also a big problem. In quarterly filings released by Elections Canada, the Liberals raised only about $531,000 by March 31. The Conservatives raised $5.2 million and the NDP $1.2 million.
Former prime minister Jean Chretien introduced party financing reform before he left office in 2003.
The Liberals were used to operating on big-money donations from a small number of corporations and individuals instead of more grassroots fundraising techniques perfected by the Tories in their earlier incarnations as the Reform and Canadian Alliance parties.
"We are the party who changed the rules. And now we are the party that has been slower than the others to play within the rules and to succeed," Dion said. "I'm sure in the coming months, you will see how much our party will be better."
In addition, the party had some organizational flaws that made it harder to conduct grassroots fundraising activities.
Without cash, the Liberals can't respond in kind to the attack ads the Tories have used recently to try and define Dion as a weak leader.
However, some Young Liberals tried to fight back by posting home-made ads on the popular YouTube online video service.
Despite all the problems the Liberal party faces, candidate Louise Portelance said: "I'll tell you the Liberal party is alive and well. There's no doubt in my mind. There should be no doubt in anybody's mind."
The Conservatives led the Liberals 34 per cent to 31 per cent in a Strategic Counsel poll conducted between May 14 and 17 for CTV and The Globe and Mail.
Given the poll's margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, the two parties are considered to be statistically tied.
The Tories have generally maintained a slight lead over the Liberals, but the governing party hasn't been able to grow its support to a level that would allow it to capture a majority government.
However, the Liberals, while they've rebounded from the 26 per cent trough in support they hit last summer, have been unable to push ahead of the Conservatives.
Although many observers had expected an election this spring, one never materialized.
While Dion wants to meet and listen this summer (Harper spent the summer of 2005 on the barbecue circuit), the Tories are expected to work on some new policies for Parliament's return in the fall.
With a report from CTV's David Akin
