Until now the election has played out in sound bites on newscasts, interviews by the leaders on TV and radio and campaign appearances by the leaders across the province. Wednesday the paid advertising campaign gets under way. The three parties will start buying time on TV and radio as well as in newspapers and on internet sites.
So what’s the message each is starting with? The Liberal Party ad contrasts the Liberal vision with the Progressive Conservative vision. Wynne says she “wants to build Ontario up not tear it down.” And she makes a point of the PC commitment to cut 100,000 public service jobs. Her pitch promotes the benefits of government. The Liberals say they “aren’t afraid to talk about the contrast” between the Tory vision and their own. The Liberals have 35 radio ads ready to roll out in different parts of the province to tailor the party’s message to each region.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Progressive Conservative ad focuses on its leader Tim Hudak and his jobs message. It moves from the plight of the unemployed in Ontario to the promise of a million jobs. The ad chooses to show Hudak not on the campaign trail but speaking with authority from his seat in the Ontario Legislature. There is no mention of his pledge to cut 100,000 jobs and no mention of the Liberals and NDP. This is about as positive as one can get about the reality that more than half a million Ontarians are out of work. It’s an ad about “what can be.”
The NDP ad is all about the numbers – Liberal numbers. With black numbers on a red background rocketing ever upward the Liberals are taken to task for wasteful spending. Then, finally, there’s a still of Kathleen Wynne and the suggestion that “it’s time to be put the Liberals in the penalty box.” The list of Liberal misdemeanours includes the charge that Wynne called “job losses a myth” but the big charge, the one on the screen, is “wasted tax dollars.” And Hudak and the PC platform don’t get a mention.
The NDP zeroes in on Liberal waste wherever and whenever possible. Today Andrea Horwath’s campaign day began in Toronto with a reminder of the ORNGE scandal and the money spent on the salaries of CEOs in Ontario’s healthcare facilities. Horwath promised to “cut ER wait times in half by hiring 250 new nurse-practitioners, opening 50 new 24-hour family health clinics, creating 1,400 more long-term care beds, and implementing a 5 day home care guarantee.” Big promises with a big price tag. There was nothing from the NDP about where the money will come from to make any of this a reality.
Horwath then bused down the road to London for campaign stops in London North. The riding is held by Liberal health minister Deb Mathews. Mathews won easily in 2011 but the NDP had the biggest vote gain in the riding. Horwath will have a local media event at the London Health Sciences Centre and keep the focus on health care.
