Early spate of attack ads may hurt Conservatives

There are 226 days left before Ontario’s next provincial election. It’s going to seem like a decade.

The official election campaign doesn’t even start until May and is to last only 28 days. However, the unofficial sniping is already under way, at least on TV.

The attack ads have begun with Patrick Brown’s Conservatives interrupting our evening ’s entertainment to paint Premier Kathleen Wynne as untrustworthy.

From the other side of the aisle, Working Ontario Women (WOW) has replied by attacking Brown for being against women. They cite examples of Brown voting against women’s rights, although where and when those votes were cast is less than clear.

WOW officials say it is dedicated to making sure that Trumpism doesn’t come to Canada and that someone with anti-female views doesn’t win the election, by default, as Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency. The default resulted from too many antiTrumpers sitting on their hands during the election.

As to the merits of the claims in the advertising, the PCs seem to have the edge. Even the province’s auditor general questions the accounting practices of the Wynne government, suggesting that hiding the truth from voters is the real objective in the much ballyhooed 25 per cent reduction in electricity rates.

There might be questions about Brown’s commitment to a progressive social agenda. But to compare his government-in-waiting to Trumpism is beyond the pale.

The money for WOW’s ads is coming from the Service Employees International Union, which boasts a membership of two million in North America.

The Wynne government has a history of buying labour peace at all costs. That has bought the Liberals lots of union support over recent elections, particularly from groups aligned with teachers’ unions.

New legislation governing the 2018 election limits the total money third parties may spend on election advertising. But there’s nothing to stop new organizations from springing up to keep total expenditures at previous levels.

This early electioneering is a trend that seems to have been borrowed from our neighbours south of the border. For example, Trump already is holding rallies in support of his campaign in 2020.

Likewise, negative political advertising of the type we’re seeing originated in Yankeeland.

Some Ontario voters already are lamenting the fact that parties indulge in mudslinging instead of explaining what they will do for us if elected.

One rural plowman recently complained loud and long about attack ads. When I asked if he disliked the ones against Wynne, whom he distrusts right along with most of rural Ontario, he said such ads weren’t necessary. In her time in government she has shown she is incapable of being premier so “why bother buying ads to say it again.”

Other new rules govern the provincial election for the first time in ’18. For example, the number of seats has risen from 107 to 122.

It’s no surprise that these seats are in urban areas such as Greater Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa, Hamilton and Barrie.

So things are only going to get worse for rural Ontario, which is pretty much ignored by the provincial government most of the time anyway.

All in, with Wynne’s low poll numbers the election should be Patrick Brown’s to lose.

However, as we’ve seen in the past, the Conservatives have lots of experience at screwing up a sure thing and handing victory to the Liberals.

Hopefully that process hasn’t begun with attack ads.