Gignac focuses on personality, not party affiliation, in radio ad
According to a new radio advertisement from the Conservative candidate in Windsor-Tecumseh, voters should mark their ballots based on the person running — not the party the candidate represents.
The advertisement supporting Jo-Anne Gignac recently began airing on privately owned radio stations in the region and featured two people talking about who they're going to vote for.
Over the course of a short conversation, they decide Gignac's record as a Windsor city councillor qualifies her for a spot in Parliament.
'Proud of the Conservative government'
Though the radio spot doesn't mention her Conservative affiliation and seems to distance herself from the party, Gignac said she's still committed to the Conservative banner.
"I'm not trying to reach above party politics," Gignac said. "I'm very proud of the Conservative government and our commitment to keeping taxes low and supporting families, which is not unlike what I've been doing here in Windsor, on city council."
She said the locally-produced ad wasn't vetted by the national party. Her goal was to show voters a candidate's history is just as important as their party affiliation.
"I think Windsor's region is rather unique in terms of how people make their choices," she said.
Competing candidates trumpeting party links
Frank Schiller, who is running for the Liberals in the same riding, said those who cast a ballot for Gignac are ultimately voting Conservative and are thus supporting that party.
"When you're voting for the local Conservative candidate, you're voting for Stephen Harper, which is a vote for continuing high unemployment in this area. And no amount of spin or denial of that is going to take that away," he said in a telephone interview on Wednesday evening.
Schiller said he had never run an ad in which he did not explicitly identify his affiliation with his party.
"I'm running as a Liberal, because I'm proud of the Liberal platform [and] I'm proud to be part of [Liberal Leader] Justin Trudeau's team," he said.
Cheryl Hardcastle, who is running for the New Democrats in Windsor-Tecumseh, said all of her ads have clearly communicated her link to the party.
"I haven't done any advertising that does not clearly define my role as an NDP candidate, a proud NDP candidate," Hardcastle said in a brief telephone interview.
Hardcastle said she is personally proud of both her record in municipal politics and the party she is representing.
"I'm proud of both," she said. "I can understand why [Gignac is] running from the Conservative record. That's a tough one."
Getting her name out to the voters
Lydia Miljan, a political science professor at the University of Windsor, said she hasn't heard the ad herself, but a high-profile candidate like Gignac would want to highlight their own political experience.
"Candidates use all sorts of strategies to get their name recognition out there," Miljan said. "Certainly for most candidates they're not as well known as the party, so they rely on the leader to get elected. In some cases, when you have a high profile candidate, it makes sense to showcase their own record and show they're a leader."
Miljan said one reason Gignac may be highlighting her own brand is because Windsor-Tecumseh is not known for supporting Conservative politicians.
New Democrat Joe Comartin held it for more than a decade before announcing last year that he would not run for re-election.
In addition to the Conservative, Liberal and New Democrat candidates seeking the seat in Windsor-Tecumseh, David Momotiuk is vying for the seat for the Green Party.
With a report from the CBC's Shaun Malley