Ontario Liberals launching first campaign ad ahead of election, focus on Ford
TORONTO — 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 similar 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.