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Liberal Ad Warns Conservative Win "Will Put a Smile on George W. Bush's Face"

By Hilary White

TORONTO, January 11, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Canadian media and conservative bloggers are speculating that the barrage of attack ads unleashed after Monday’s English language debate depicting the old reliable Liberal party motif of “scary” Stephen Harper are a positive sign for the Conservatives. Eleven ads began airing Tuesday on TV and radio that are attempting to revive the image of Harper’s soft-C Tories as a threat to “Canadian values” as defined by Liberal party strategists.

The ads rely heavily upon the Liberal icons of Canadian identity, particularly anti-Americanism – predominantly in its anti-Bush manifestation – and identifies “social conservatism” as a sinister menace to Canada.

The TV ads, running nationally, feature a looming, grainy close-up of Harper’s face and end with the exhortation, “Choose your Canada.”
 
In one, a woman’s voice says, “Canada may elect the most pro-American leader in the Western world. Harper is pro-Iraq war, anti-Kyoto and socially conservative. Bush's new best friend is the poster boy for his ideal foreign leader. A Harper victory will put a smile on George W. Bush's face.”

Most commentators agreed that Paul Martin was the clear loser in Monday’s debate and predicted that the party would now resort to its standby tactic of demonizing Harper’s Tories. The next day, the ads appeared depicting Harper as a fearsome social conservative with a “hidden agenda” to roll back social programmes and women’s rights.

The “scary conservative” tactic has proved reliable for the Liberals since the unprecedented series of media attacks on Stockwell Day’s Canadian Alliance in the 2000 federal election. This time, however, even the usually solidly leftist Canadian mainstream media is shaking its collective head.

Marketing Magazine's Associate Publisher and Editorial Director Stan Sutter said the ads are a “turning point of the campaign,” that may backlash on the Liberals. Sutter told CTV’s Canada AM, “If they're seen as sweaty-handed and desperate, it could turn the election into a rout.”

One of the ads suggesting that the Conservatives would allow troops to patrol the streets of Canadian cities has been scrapped but not before it had drawn criticism from Canadians writing in to online news sources. The ad’s voiceover said, “Stephen Harper actually announced he wants to increase military presence in our cities. Canadian cities. Soldiers with guns. In our cities. In Canada. We did not make this up.”

Conservative MP Jason Kenny said the ad tried to call Harper a “threat to democracy.” “This is without precedent in Canadian politics, this is the most vicious, baseless attack ad that our politics has ever seen,” Kenney said.

Liberal spokesman Ken Polk told The Globe and Mail that though the ad had been pulled from Liberal party website, it may still be aired.

The bloggers, who are seeing the political influence of their “citizen journalism” grow in Canada as it did in the US, quickly debunked the accusation however. They pointed out that Harper had suggested the military be deployed for national emergencies such as restoring power and providing relief to those caught in the 1998 Montreal ice storms.

One commentator, who identified himself only as “Dave” said he had spent 21 years in Canada’s military and that he felt “hurt beyond belief,” at the implication that Canada’s armed forces would be complicit in anti-democratic activities.

The ‘blogs and online commenting on mainstream media websites such as Global and the CBC have allowed rank and file Canadians to have a voice where in the past, only professional media commentators held sway.

One Toronto-based blogger who said he is “not a conservative, either with a small or large C,” summed up the consensus among conservative observers. “Through my job,” said “Jaymeister,” “I was in a position to see all twelve of the new Liberal Party ads yesterday. Bizarre is the only word that can be applied to them. Everyone in the office who saw them agreed that they were a sign of deep desperation for them.”

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