“Will he [Prime Minister Stephen Harper] show good judgment, admit it is a tax and repeal this tax on middle-class Canadians?” Trudeau asked in Question Period.
The federal Conservatives’ first statement after Trudeau’s landslide leadership victory noted that he “may have a famous last name, but in a time of global economic uncertainty, he doesn’t have the judgement [sic] or experience to be Prime Minister.”
(Trudeau was referring to tariff increased in this year’s budget; Harper responded by highlighting the tax cuts his government has brought, adding that the Liberal Party has always voted against those reductions)
The Conservatives also premiered a series of ads headlined in cursive script and sparkles and featuring the newly-minted party leader stripping off his shirt at a fundraiser for the Canadian Liver Foundation.
Set to circus music and peppered with slow-motion, theatrical shots, the ad claims Trudeau is “in way over his head.”
Leaving the House of Commons after leading question period for the first time, Trudeau reiterated his pledge to stay positive in the face of ads he called awkward and bemusing.
“That Mr. Harper and the Conservatives want to change the channel like that, want to talk about anything but their record, is no surprise,” Trudeau told the horde of media awaiting his comments. “But I’m going to keep talking about what matters to Canadians.”
Along with portraying Trudeau as silly, the ads – airing on television and posted online at www.justinoverhishead.ca – rehashed old statements Trudeau made about Quebec and violent cultural practices without providing the full context.
Another ad questioned Trudeau’s ability to run the economy because he has been a camp counsellor, rafting instructor and drama teacher.
Whether they’ll have the same impact as the ads that painted former Liberal leader Stephane Dion as “not a leader” and his successor Michael Ignatieff as “just visiting” remains to be seen.
But the potential for big damage is there if the Liberals don’t respond and create their own image of Trudeau, says Carleton University political management professor Stephen Azzi.
“Instead of him being the dilettante they create him as a person who contrasts with Stephen Harper as a caring, likable man. In the process they try to create an image of Stephen Harper being nasty, petty and divisive,” he said.
Trudeau has been betting that he and Canadians share a mutual frustration with attack ads and negativity – an assumption that did not serve his predecessors well.
Still, Azzi said it’s likely the ads’ impact will fade with the frequency the Conservatives launch them.
“It could be that the time is run out on this approach to politics at least to the time being,” he said.
Many on social media were criticizing the ads for using Trudeau’s charity work – including the striptease and Movember facial hair – in an attack ad. Trudeau echoed that criticism.
“The idea that they would use me raising money for cancer, to fight against cancer, at the same time that they are raising prices for wigs for cancer patients with a new tariff they are bringing in, really demonstrates this is a government that knows how to attack and doesn’t quite think through what it is putting out there.”
But Conservative party spokesman Fred DeLorey said Trudeau was using a charity as a political shield while charging others thousands of dollars in speaking fees.
“We believe Justin Trudeau’s eagerness to perform a strip-tease, regardless of the venue or putative cause, says something about his judgment,” DeLorey said in a statement.
DeLorey would not comment on how much the ads cost, where they would air, how much money they’ll raise for the ads hoped to raise or whether there would be more.
Trudeau said he hopes all the attention will lead to more donations for the liver association. “I was glad to offer them my shirt.”
Original Article
Source: globalnews.ca
Author: Rebecca Lindell
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