Ontario PCs launch pre-election advertising blitz promoting Premier Doug Ford as a big spender
Ontario's Progressive Conservative party has launched a radio advertising blitz aimed at promoting Premier Doug Ford as a big spender, while attacking the leaders of the Liberals and New Democrats nearly eight months before the next provincial election.
The attack ads blanketed radio airwaves in Ontario on the same day the Ford government was offering voters a new vision for the province in a Throne Speech delivered by LT. Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell at Queen’s Park.
In one series of ads, personally voiced by Ford, the progressive conservative leader casts himself as a "yes" man whose government is willing to approve transit and infrastructure projects to create jobs in the province.
“I hear it all the time, politicians are famous for finding reasons to say no,” Ford says in the commercial. “That’s not me.”
“I am Doug Ford, the leader of the Ontario PCs, and we are the party saying yes,” Ford says in the radio ad authorized by the chief financial officer for the party.
The message offers a stark contrast from 2018 when Ford promised to save four cents on every dollar of provincial spending while promising to “respect your hard-earned tax dollars.”
“My friends, the party with the tax payers dollars is over, it’s done” Ford said on the night he was elected as premier.
The COVID-19 pandemic, however, forced the Ford government to run the largest deficit in provincial history reshaping the government’s attitude towards spending.
The government has since cut down the deficit from $38.5 billion to $16.4 billion largely due to pandemic transfer payments from the federal government and $5.6 billion in unspent funds in the 2020-21 fiscal year.
Still, Monday’s Throne Speech promised to avoid cutting spending and tax hikes, while still charting a course towards financial stability.
In another series of ads, the PC party tries to shift the blame of the COVID-19 crisis in long-term care onto Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca — who was a cabinet minister in the former Liberal government.
“[Del Duca] remained idle while creating only 611 long-term care beds, leaving the most vulnerable unprepared for the pandemic,” the radio ad claims.
The anti-Del Duca ad also invokes the unpopular legacy of Kathleen Wynne, who led the party to defeat in the 2018 provincial election.
“Remember life under Kathleen Wynne,” a female voice asks. “[Del Duca] was Wynne’s right hand man when they sent your hydro bills skyrocketing.”
The ads highlight the former liberal governments record on the sale of a portion of Hydro One, job creation, and long-term care, accompanied by a stern warning.
“Ontario crumbled under Kathleen Wynne and Steven Del Duca,” The voice in the ad says. “Let’s not go back.”
In a statement Liberal campaign director Christine McMillan calls the ads “divisive attacks” by a party “desperate for power.”
“Doug Ford’s Conservatives are exclusively focused on attacking the only party with a positive plan trying to help the people of Ontario,” the statement says.
The PC party ads also target NDP leader Andrea Horwath as a politician who “says one thing and does another” without providing citations for the claims being made.
“She talks about how expensive everything is but plans to raise your taxes. She says she’s against gridlock but opposes building new highways,” the ads claim.
Michael Balagus, the NDP's 2022 campaign director, said the ads show Ford is "worried that it'll be Andrea in 2022."
“He doesn’t want to talk about his own record, or his cutting plans, so Ford making up tall tales about Andrea Horwath —- which won’t stop her relentless focus on fighting for better for people.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway.
BREAKING Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife’s edge.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
An El Nino-less summer is coming. Here's what that could mean for Canada
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Man banned from owning animals after fatal Calgary dog attack
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
Have you been removed from your family doctor’s patient list for visiting an Ontario walk-in clinic?
Some Ontarians are expressing frustration after they said that they were removed from their family doctor’s patient list for visiting a walk-in clinic in a process being called “de-rostering.”
East-end Ottawa family dealing with massive rat infestation
Residents in Ottawa’s Elmridge Gardens complex are dealing with a rat infestation that just won’t go away. Now, after doing everything they can to try to fix the issue, they are pleading with the city to step in and help.