There is no clear winner in the Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale Internet election campaign.

With all five local candidates in next week's federal election pushing their policies and parties on-line, there is plenty of information available, but not always presented in the most convenient way, and not making the best use of the opportunity presented by the Internet, according to one local expert.

Alexandre Sevigny, a professor of communications at McMaster University, reviewed the Web sites of the main local candidates and concluded they could be doing much more with the technology at their disposal.

"(It) is a big riding geographically," Mr. Sevigny said. "The candidates could be making better use of the Internet to reach the maximum number of constituents."

Instead, he found none of the candidates have been particularly imaginative or creative, with mostly limited use of audio, video and interactivity. While a couple of the candidates are making greater use of their Facebook pages, Mr. Sevigny described this effort as "reckless" because the social networking site is still a club and the majority of people will visit a candidate's primary site and never visit their Facebook page.

Greg Elmer, a politics professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, said Facebook is helpful for recruiting campaign workers and passing on the word about meetings and debates.

But Mr. Sevigny compared the local candidate's main sites - most important for their campaign - to real estate ads, with their head prominently featured in the website's banner and information crammed into the rest of the page.

"The Internet is going to be the premier form of connecting with constituents," Mr. Sevigny said. "It provides a universal platform to effectively send targeted messaging to the most disparate groups."

Liberal candidate Arlene MacFarlane-VanderBeek's site (www.votearlene.com) touts her as A Better Choice For Real Representation, carrying on her effort to present herself as the grassroots choice for MP who will involve the community and focus on the local riding.

Her site includes a prominent link to the party's Green Shift program, as well as a link to her Facebook page. There's also a link to the Liberal election platform, and a page summarizing her stances on several issues. There is a link to her campaign blog, but it hasn't been regularly updated.

"This Web site is functional and communicates excitement and dynamism," Mr. Sevigny said. "However, it is a little busy and took a long time to load on my Blackberry."

He suggested more interactivity and simplifying the design would improve the site, and a video introduction would make it more dynamic.

Ms. MacFarlane-VanderBeek's Facebook page had reached 94 members as of Tuesday. But Mr. Sevigny suggested the page's focus on a Defeat Sweet theme may be better targeted at an Elect Arlene strategy.

Conservative incumbent David Sweet's Web site (www.votedavidsweet.ca) also begins with a campaign theme, David Sweet Works. The site describes Mr. Sweet as "Sincere" and "trusted."

There are links to his Facebook page, YouTube videos of him speaking in the House of Commons, a link to the Conservative Party website, and PDFs of his campaign brochures.

Mr. Sevigny questioned the David Sweet Works theme, and wondered exactly what it means. He also suggested is a problem of website composition to have him facing two different directions in photos.

"It makes him look contradictory rather than single-minded," Mr. Sevigny said.

But he noted Mr. Sweet's site has a multimedia section that has many videos of Mr. Sweet at events or speaking in the House.

But overall, Mr. Sevigny was unimpressed by Mr. Sweet's main Web site.

"I am surprised that so little effort has been put into a website for re-electing an incumbent," he said.

On the other hand, Mr. Sevigny said Mr. Sweet's Facebook page is the most developed of all the local candidate's pages on the popular social networking site.

It includes audio, video, photo albums, posted notes about policy and events and has the most supporters or members - with 215 as of Tuesday.

"However, this is very limiting because Facebook is still a 'club'," Mr. Sevigny said.

Gordon Guyatt, the NDP candidate, also tops his main Web site (www.ndpadfw.ca/adfw-fed-election08) with a campaign theme statement, describing him as "the strongest candidate with the best policies."

The site includes links to articles written by, or about, Dr. Guyatt and also links to NDP policy on various election issues.

Mr. Sevigny was least impressed by the NDP candidate's Web site, and said he found it difficult to load on his Blackberry.

"(It) is functional, but uninspiring," Mr. Sevigny said of the Web site.

Dr. Guyatt's site does include a link to his campaign Blog, which was updated on Oct. 6.

There are two Facebook pages connected to Dr. Guyatt, one focused on him, the other a NDP riding association page. Both have very limited members - totaling 12 for one and 25 on the other as of Tuesday.

"This does not reflect well on his ability to marshal grassroots support," Mr. Sevigny said.

The Dundas Star News couldn't locate a Facebook page for Marxist-Leninist Party candidate Jamile Ghaddar. The party operates a central Web site (www.mlpc.ca) which includes a list of all candidates running under the party's name across Canada.

There is little detail about the individual candidates, but many - including Ms. Ghaddar - have contributed entries or commentaries to the site. She contributed a commentary titled "How to bring new jobs to my riding".

Green Party candidate Peter Ormond's Web site (www.greenpartyhamilton.ca/adfw.php) was described by Mr. Sevigny as "bland." It includes little information about the candidate himself.

"The site looks like it was pulled out of one of the generic template files from a web design program,' Mr. Sevigny said. "It makes no attempt to mobilize citizens through social networking."

He suggested the site sends a conservative, corporate message and wondered if that was the image the Green party wants to communicate.

The main site does link to Mr. Ormond's Facebook page, which featured 97 members as of Tuesday and more interactivity than the main Web site. It includes a biography of Mr. Ormond, some photos and links to other sites.

But Mr. Sevigny suggested the local Green Party candidate's Facebook page could use more posted items and audio or video.

While there is plenty of information on the Internet about all local candidates in next week's federal election, Mr. Sevigny doesn't feel any of really unlocked the power of the Web.

"In a riding such as ADFW, with an educated, savvy population, it is important to get your internet strategy right," he said.