New election ads take aim at Wynne

Doug Ford’s first campaign ads are upbeat homages to his wellattended campaign rallies.

The rookie Progressive Conservative began airing election ads Friday night.

Against the backdrop of his optimistic campaign theme song “For The People,” also the title of the Tories’ forthcoming platform, Ford is shown in the two ads pumping up the crowd at a rally in March.

“It’s about turning this province around and getting it back on track,” he thunders to applause.

As footage of Ford meeting a wide cross section of voters appears on screen, a female announcer then says: “Doug Ford is here for the people of Ontario — to clean up the hydro mess, to bring jobs back, to end hallway health care, to put money back in your pocket and to restore accountability in government.”

The scene then cuts back to the rally and Ford booming: “Relief is on its way.”

A second, similar ad depicts Ford and his wife, Karla, getting ready to take the stage at the March “unity rally” at the Toronto Congress Centre after he won the PC leadership.

“I have one very simple message to Kathleen Wynne: The party with the taxpayers’ money is over,” he says.

The Tory ads were prepared in house and party officials, speaking on background in order to discuss strategy for the June 7 election, say they want to highlight “a mostly forward-looking message.”

“It’s very much a ‘change’ election — people are ready to move on,” said one high-ranking insider, noting the expiry date on the almost 15-year-old Liberal government has passed. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath’s initial wave of election advertising, prepared by Now Communications, takes a different tone.

The first spot features a man and a woman in a gymnasium on the wrong end of a dodgeball game.

As they get walloped by Liberal red rubber balls, the words “hallway medicine,” “sky-high hydro bills,” “rising costs” appear and the female announcer says: “For so long, Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals have been hitting us from every direction.”

Then a massive Tory blue ball thumps the man and the announcer says, “And Doug Ford’s Conservatives will make it even worse,” as the words “privatization, cuts, chaos” flash across the screen.

“But the good news is that you don’t have to play by their rules any more,” she says as an NDP orange ball rolls gently out toward the players.

“On June 7, change the game — vote for someone on your side,” the announcer says, as the female dodgeball player grabs the orange ball and throws a Steph Curry-style three-pointer into a basketball net.

A second ad showcases Horwath chatting with voters.

Two weeks ago, the Liberals launched a $1-million blitz aimed squarely at “the real Doug Ford.”

The Liberal spots, which do not mention Wynne, were done by Bensimon Byrne and feature ominous music as a female narrator reminds viewers of some of Ford’s more outrageous statements over the years.

PCs highlight Ford rallies while New Democrats attempt to change game