Ontario Liberals’ first political ads aimed squarely at the ‘real’ Doug Ford

Ontario’s Liberals are drawing lessons from the last U.S. election as they unleash advertising they say aims to expose the “real” Doug Ford and what he would do if elected premier this spring.

As the party unveiled its first ad Friday, senior campaign officials said they want to highlight how a Tory government under Ford would affect Ontario residents, in order to avoid what they believe was a fatal flaw in the attacks aimed at U.S. President Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election.

Those ads focused too heavily on Trump’s personality and it would be a mistake to do the same for Ford, who in many ways is a smiliar candidate, the officials said.

The first ad, which will air online, on television and radio, says the Progressive Conservative leader would lower corporate taxes while rolling back minimum wage and cutting 40,000 public sector jobs.

Other ads will nonetheless take aim at Ford’s character, reviving some of the controversial statements the Toronto politician has made in the past. One ad, whose debut date was not specified, will feature Ford’s 2014 comments about a home for children with developmental disabilities.

“We think it’s really important that when people make the choice - and it’s going to be the starkest choice they’ve had to make provincially for a long time - that they have the full facts on who Doug Ford really is,” Liberal campaign co-chair Deb Matthews said Friday.

Asked why the Liberals would attack Ford right from the start rather than tout their own leader Kathleen Wynne and her record, Matthews said the party’s research shows many people don’t know much about the newly chosen Tory leader.

Ford has made a point to avoid scrutiny and has publicly said little about his plans for the province, she said. Liberal campaign officials acknowledged they went on the offensive because polls have consistently predicted a Tory victory.