If anyone would know what matters during a federal election campaign, it would be Deputy Prime Minister Herb Gray.
After winning 12 federal campaigns, dating back to 1962, Mr. Gray would know what voters think about when they go into the voting booth.
Last week, Mr. Gray, the first Jewish-Canadian federal cabinet minister said he was impressed with the naming of Connecticut Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman as the first Jewish candidate for vice-president.
While he does not know Sen. Lieberman personally, he said he was impressed with the two-term senator's qualifications. Mr. Gray also said the news of the Jewish American senator's candidacy would stir up a bigger reaction among Americans than his rise to cabinet in 1969 did in Canada.
The reason: one could argue that being the first Jewish vice-president may just be more glamorous than the being the first Jewish federal minister-- and a minister without portfolio, to boot.
Another reason, suggested by Mr. Gray, is that the religious beliefs of a candidate doesn't mean as much to Canadian voters as they do to Americans. He said his Jewish background never came up as an issue in his campaigns.
Mr. Gray said the recent debate over the influence of Canadian Alliance Leader Stockwell Day's evangelical Christian beliefs on such issues as abortion and gay rights does not signal a new age where religion will have a role in politics.
But that would seem to be exactly what is happening. The fact that Mr. Day won the leadership and his polling numbers seem to be rising despite dire warnings about his religious beliefs indicate a shift in some Canadians' political thinking.
It raises the question of whether Mr. Day's supporters like him because of his religious views or they just don't think they matter.
Ultimately, this interest and open talk about a candidate's faith in Canada and south of the border hints that a new debate on the role of religion in public life is about to start.