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In the 2006 federal election in Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada used attack ads against Conservative Party of Canada leader Stephen Harper. These advertisements attempted to depict Harper as an extreme right-wing politician. Image File history File links Liberalattackads. ...
The 2006 Canadian federal election (more formally, the 39th General Election) was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons. ...
The Liberal Party of Canada (French: Parti libéral du Canada), colloquially known as the Grits (originally Clear Grits), is a Canadian federal political party positioned around the centre of the political spectrum, combining a generally progressive social policy with moderate economics. ...
The Conservative Party of Canada (French: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a right-of-centre political party in Canada, formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in December 2003. ...
Stephen Harper (born April 30, 1959) is the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. ...
Background
The ads against Harper were similar to two previous Liberal ad series: In the Canadian federal election, 2000, the ads accused Canadian Alliance (Billed in the ads as "Reform Alliance") leader Stockwell Day having a "hidden agenda." In the 2004 election, the Liberals had run a variety of ads under the heading of, "Stephen Harper Said", using five quotes from his tenure as leader of the National Citizens Coalition, with a companion website. These were later accompanied by an advertisement that used a variety of images and generalizations of policy to imply that Harper would make Canada like the United States. The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000. ...
The Canadian Alliance (in full, the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance) was a Canadian right-of-centre conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. ...
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party founded in 1987. ...
Hon. ...
The Canadian federal election, 2004 (more formally, the 38th general election), was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons. ...
The National Citizens Coalition is a Canadian libertarian-conservative lobby group. ...
The main targets of both series of ads weren't voters supporting Harper or Day, but voters who were considering the New Democratic Party and the Progressive Conservative Party (in 2000). The ads were an attempt to make the race a "choice" between the Liberals and Day/Harper. This tactic was credited by most pundits for enabling the Liberals to win a minority government in 2004. The New Democratic Party (NDP) is a political party in Canada with a social democratic philosophy and moderate democratic socialist tendencies. ...
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC) was a Canadian centre-right conservative political party that existed from 1867 to 2003. ...
While most of the advertisements aired by parties in the election had been considered fairly mild up to the break Leaders took for the holidays, the Liberals were widely expected to release sharper ads. These came after the second debate, when the Conservatives' numbers were going up in the polls.
The ads These 30 second attack ads were produced and aired by the Liberal Party. All featured a close-up picture of Stephen Harper with the sound of war drums beating. The ads focused on controversial aspects of Harper's past and the Conservative platform: An attack ad in election terms is an advertisement whose message is meant as an attack against another candidate or political party. ...
- "Like Stephen Harper, Mike Harris had a right wing agenda. Remember the Common Sense Revolution? Remember the environmental neglect, the shattered social programs, the crumbling schools and hospitals, the huge deficits? Yeah, that Common Sense Revolution. Do we really want to go down that road again?"
- "Who paid for Stephen Harper's rise to the head of the party? We don't know. He refuses to reveal his donors. What do you suppose he's hiding? We do know he's very popular with right wingers in the U.S. They have money, maybe they helped him. We just don't know. He just won't say."
- "Gilles Duceppe and Stephen Harper worked together to bring down the government. Lots of late night secret meetings. Apparently, they're quite a team. Which is great. Because if Harper wins this election? He'll have to work very, very closely with Duceppe. Unfortunately, their unity won't do much for Canada's unity."
- "This is what Stephen Harper told his American friends: 'Canada is content to become a second-tier socialist country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services, to mask its second-rate status.' When he said, 'You won't recognize Canada when I get through with it,' he wasn't kidding."
- "Stephen Harper spoke to a secret, ultra right-wing American think tank. In a Montreal hotel, off limits to press and public, he said, 'America, and particularily your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world.' No. We did not make that up. We're not allowed to make stuff up."
- "Stephen Harper's stand on public health care? '... Provinces have allowed private health care services in the past. Why should I care? Why should the Federal government care how they're managed?' Seriously, that's what he said. Well, Paul Martin cares very much, Mr. Harper. And so do Canadians."
- "Here's what Stephen Harper told some of his American pals about Canada's unemployed: 'Don't feel particularily bad for these people. They don't feel bad about it themselves. Not as long as they're receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance.' Not exactly the kind of compassion we're looking for in a Prime Minister, is it? A social safety net is a fundamental Canadian value, Mr. Harper."
- "Stephen Harper's view of Atlantic Canada? 'Unfourtunately, many people in Atlantic Canada feel that it's only through government favours that there will be economic progress.'He called us 'A culture of defeat.'And he said: 'Atlantic Canada needs Quebec to stay in Canada because of our week economy.' Maybe we should choose someone who actually loves Atlantic Canada." (This ad was often played after one of the previous ads in the Atlantic reigon).
- "From the Washington Times', Dec. 2, 2005: '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.' Well, at least someone will be happy, eh?"
- "Stephen Harper has made a lot of promises to a lot of people. Apparently, he's made a few too many. Now he admits he'll have to either raise taxes, or run a deficit to pay for them all. Wow. He's not even elected yet. And he's already running a deficit."
- "Get a load of this. Stephen Harper once said: 'The Western ridings that the Liberals hold are dominated by either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada. People who live in ghettos.' We're not kidding. He actually said that."
- An ad about Abortion was also run late in the campaign. It claimed Harper was "not pro-choice" and would not stop legislation criminalizing abortion.
The ads ended with a voice stating the Liberal campaign slogan, "Choose Your Canada". Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945, in Toronto, Ontario) was the twenty-second Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. ...
The phrase Common Sense Revolution was used as a political slogan to describe common sense conservative platforms in New Jersey, Ontario and Australia in the 1990s. ...
The 2004 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election took place on March 20, 2004 in Toronto, Ontario, and resulted in the election of Stephen Harper as the first leader of the new Canadian Conservative Party. ...
Gilles Duceppe Gilles Duceppe, M.P. (born July 22, 1947 in Montreal) is a Quebec nationalist and social democratic politician in Canada. ...
The term medicare (in lowercase) (French: assurance-maladie) is the unofficial name for Canadas universal public health insurance system. ...
Unemployment benefits are sums of money given to the unemployed by the government or a compulsory para-governmental insurance system. ...
Atlantic Canada consists of the four Canadian provinces on the Atlantic Ocean: Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. ...
The Washington Times is a daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1982 as a conservative alternative to the Washington Post by members of the controversial Unification Church. ...
This article covers invasion specifics. ...
Earth as seen by Apollo 17 The Kyoto Protocol is an amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international treaty on global warming. ...
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ...
Controversy The ad that created the biggest uproar was one that didn't air in English Canada. An English version of the ad was however available on the Liberal Party webpage for a few days before being removed. The ad suggested Harper would put military personnel in Canadian cities "with guns": - "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."
The ad was referring to a plan by Harper to station military personnel around cities, in case of natural disasters or other emergency situations. The ad was inadvertently posted on the party's English website for one day. A milder version of the ad continued to be played in French amid the growing anger over the ad. Paul Martin had claimed "That's one [ad] that was not played." He was later quoted on CBC as saying he personally approved all the ads.
Reaction The "military" ad was seen in the general Canadian public as being over the top, and many pundits believe that it damaged the credibility of the other ads. It also did not help that headlines and news shows featured the controversial ad prominently for several days afterwards. In particular, many war veterans and members of the Canadian Forces were upset at the implication that they would be threatening to civil liberties. The Canadian Forces (French: Forces canadiennes) are the combined armed forces of Canada. ...
Besides a blanket condemnation, the Conservatives responded that in the "American think tank" ads, Harper's statements were for comic effect, and that Harper had actually refuted the points raised in the Washington Times editorial in a letter to the paper. The positioning of Harper on abortion was also questioned, since he had earlier promised to avoid the issue in government.
For the next few days, Liberal leader Paul Martin had to defend the ads in interviews, instead of making planned policy announcements. One Conservative ad used quotations from Liberal Members of Parliament Keith Martin and John McCallum expressing their dissatisifaction with the ads. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ...
Dr. Keith Martin, PC (born 1960) is a Canadian physician and politician. ...
The Honourable John McCallum, PC, MP, MA, PhD (born April 9, 1950) is a Canadian politician, economist and university professor. ...
It is not agreed upon, though, whether the ads had a negative or any real effect on the Liberal's election results. While the effect of the other ads may have been blunted somewhat by the "military" ad, Liberal numbers were already down in polls, and their momentum was rapidly shifting to the Conservatives. While the Conservatives would win 124 seats and the election, the Liberals would still manage 103, with Ontario and Atlantic Canada still giving them more seats then the Conservatives.
See also One of the images from the commercial that many felt emphasized Chrétiens face The 1993 Chrétien ad was an attack ad broadcast on television during the 1993 federal election in Canada by the Progressive Conservative Party against Liberal leader Jean Chrétien. ...
An attack ad in election terms is an advertisement whose message is meant as an attack against another candidate or political party. ...
Negative campaigning is trying to win an advantage by referring to negative aspects of an opponent or of a policy rather than emphasizing ones own positive attributes or preferred policies. ...
External link - Liberals release series of attack ads
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