PCs step up attack ads against NDP in waning days of Manitoba campaign
NDP calls mock playing cards desperate; PCs say Manitobans deserve to know more about candiates
Manitoba Progressive Conservatives are ramping up their attack ads late in a provincial election campaign where polls suggest the New Democrats have a better chance of forming government.
In a full-page ad in Wednesday's Winnipeg Free Press, the PCs draw attention to past criminal charges against NDP Leader Wab Kinew and Thompson incumbent candidate Eric Redhead, as well as Fort Garry incumbent candidate Mark Wasyliw's work as a criminal defence lawyer and social media posts or policy positions taken by four other NDP candidates.
"Don't gamble on the NDP, you will be dealt a very bad hand," reads the ad, which places images of the NDP candidates within playing cards.
"With zero experience running the government, don't believe the bluff. Discard the whole NDP deck."
The ad labels Kinew a "joker" who was once "charged with domestic assault, drunk driving and violent assault of a cab driver."
Kinew later received a pardon for his 2003 and 2004 convictions related to impaired driving and an assault on a taxi driver. Two domestic assault charges against him involving a former girlfriend were later stayed, and Kinew has consistently denied those charges.
The Wednesday PC ad also notes Redhead was "charged with domestic assault" while Wasyliw "defends sex offenders and drug dealers in court."
When he ran for the NDP in the 2022 Thompson byelection, Redhead disclosed his 2006 charge for common assault to Elections Manitoba, for which he received an absolute discharge.
PC spokesperson Shannon Martin, who is not seeking another term in the McPhillips constituency, said his party wants Manitoban voters to know more about NDP candidates.
"If Wab doesn't want to share those people that are running for him under his banner — share their past and their actions — then we're more than happy to. I think it would be irresponsible for us not to ensure that all voters have information," Martin said outside PC headquarters in Winnipeg's Inkster Industrial area.
The ad comes four days after the Progressive Conservatives took out a full-page ad in the Free Press outlining several policy positions, with the largest text highlighting the party's opposition to a search of the Prairie Green landfill for the bodies of First Nations women police believe are homicide victims.
The party has also taken out billboards promoting its landfill-search opposition, as well as its support for "parental rights."
Kinew said Wednesday the ads make the Progressive Conservatives appear desperate.
"I'm pleased that the PCs are now attacking me instead of trans kids or women in the landfill. I signed up for this. I knew what I was getting into. Trans kids and the families of the murder victims did not," Kinew said at a news conference.
"If you, as a Manitoban, do not like these American-style attacks, there's something you can do about it. You can go vote, right now. You can vote to turn the page on [PC Leader] Heather Stefanson and the PCs. You can vote against this style of politics."
'Nastier and more vicious' than usual: prof
At dissolution, the governing Progressive Conservatives held 35 of the 57 seats in Manitoba's Legislature. The NDP had 18, the Liberals held three, and one seat was vacant.
Two recent polls have suggested popular support for the NDP is stronger than for the PCs.
Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said the ads resemble those that have become popular in the United States.
"This is nastier and more vicious and mean than usual. It starts with a snippet of information about a number of the NDP candidates and amplifies and distorts and sensationalizes and misrepresents what they stand for," Thomas said in an interview.
"This is seen to be the way to win a contest almost at any cost. So if you're behind in the polls and you want to arouse voters who you think are not engaged especially with your campaign, this gets noticed."
Thomas nonetheless said there is little reason to believe the ads will be effective at changing voter intentions in a way that significantly affects the vote on Oct. 3.
The Manitoba Bar Association, meanwhile, condemned the ad as well as previous PC statements about Wasyliw's work.
Criminal defence lawyers "play an important role in the justice system," association president Jason Gisser said in a statement.
"Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the right to legal representation. These attacks must stop."
The ad also targets NDP Union Station incumbent Uzoma Asagwara for speaking at a Black Lives Matter rally, Point Douglas incumbent Bernadette Smith for supporting supervised consumption sites, Transcona incumbent Nello Altomare for wearing a "Help me, I'm poor!" sign at a Public Service Alliance of Canada picket line and Morden-Winkler candidate Ken Friesen for stating the "lower class and middle class don't exist" in a 2022 tweet.
A draft version of the ad, distributed by the PCs prior to Wednesday, also targeted Kirkfield Park NDP candidate Logan Oxenham for making a joke on Facebook in 2012 that references sexual abuse by a member of the Irish clergy.
The Free Press refused to publish the mock card about Oxenham, Martin said. The newspaper did not comment on that decision.
Kinew said Oxenham is a good person who would serve Kirkfield Park well.
"I'm sure they would articulate their regrets for things that they may have said in the past," Kinew said.
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