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OTTAWA — It’s the burning question for Canada’s federal party partisans this Thanksgiving weekend: Which turkeys will get cooked?

Advance polls open Friday for voters wishing to get an early jump on the Oct. 19 election, but the real action may take place around dinner tables, TV sets and camp or cottage closings.

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Since long before this 78-day election campaign began, the October holiday weekend has been circled on calendars as a crucible where the fortunes of Stephen Harper, Tom Mulcair and Justin Trudeau could be forged: Far-flung families gathering together to talk turkey, just as voters begin focusing on who should form the next government.

“Urban legend!” Tom Flanagan, Harper’s former chief adviser, barked in an email.

“I know of no evidence that holidays are important in elections because people talk about politics when families gather for a big dinner.”

John Duffy, a former adviser to Liberal prime minister Paul Martin, has a rather different take.