FOR the past seven weeks Michael Ignatieff, the leader of the opposition Liberals, has submitted to trial by barbecue. He has crossed Canada on a summer bus tour, with a daily dose of seared beefsteak, extemporaneous speeches, endless handshaking, interviews with local media and even some dancing. The purpose, party officials say, is to sharpen the political skills of Mr Ignatieff, a former journalist and academic more at home with broccoli and bucatini, and to test his stamina and his party's readiness for an election campaign.

The verdict has been mixed. A leader often seen as wooden and aloof has revealed a glimmer of popular appeal. The Liberals have crept up in the opinion polls, but still trail the Conservative Party, which has formed a minority government under Stephen Harper, the prime minister since 2006. Some of the Liberals' most experienced campaigners remain sceptical. When the party's parliamentary caucus gathers on August 30th there will be no repeat of Mr Ignatieff's bold call at the same event last year of “Mr Harper, your time is up.” The party recoiled from this electoral bravado. It almost cost Mr Ignatieff his job and led to a shake-up of his advisers.

Mr Harper has had his own stumbles this summer. A decision to make completing the longer version of the census form voluntary annoyed many, including the federal government's chief statistician, who resigned. Veterans were angry when the government opted not to reappoint their ombudsman after he criticised official stinginess. Fans of gun control denounced the sidelining of the police chief in charge of the gun registry weeks before a parliamentary vote on scrapping it.

Yet Mr Harper's position remains strong. The Conservatives have rock-solid majorities in about 60 of parliament's 308 seats, mainly in rural and western areas. The separatist Bloc Québécois usually wins at least 40 of Quebec's 75 seats. So Liberals need more than 60% of what is left even to form a minority government. But their party organisation in Quebec, a key battleground, has been woeful for years.

Liberals think they have uncovered growing economic unease among the suburban middle class in central Canada, another swing group. After a strong first quarter, the economy seems to be slowing, as have house sales. But their ability to exploit the anxiety is limited by Mr Ignatieff's lack of economic expertise, a trait he shares with the rest of his caucus. To his left, the New Democrats are trying to woo voters with activist economic policies.

It may be little consolation for Mr Ignatieff that any Liberal leader might struggle to make an impact on Canada's fragmented political landscape, in which five parties (including the newish Greens) now jostle where once two dominated. Even partial success by the time Canadians pack away their barbecues might be enough to forestall an election this year. Otherwise Mr Harper may choose to send Canadians to the polls this autumn, for the fourth time in seven years. And in that case it might be a different Liberal leader sampling the sausages next summer.