by Tynan Worsley-Dragland
At the height of the Federal Election in 2015, I saw an ad on YouTube from the Conservative Party of Canada. In the ad, a spokeswoman criticizes up-and-coming Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, stating that he is “just not ready”. As a nine-year-old at the time, I was none the wiser about the true intentions of the advertisement. When my father read aloud the election results later that year, I asked him worriedly: “Isn’t Justin not ready to be Prime Minister?” He informed me that Trudeau, like the other running candidates, would be more than prepared for that role. This conversation with my father was enough for me to take future advertisements with a grain of salt. As myself high school students, me included, approach voting age, and negative political advertisements become more commonplace—on news, television, even social media—it is essential for students to think critically when analyzing political advertisements.
The method of advertising my childhood self witnessed is often referred to as attack ads or negative campaigning. This advertising style, which seems to have risen in prevalence over the years, has been used globally since the 1930s. The objectives of negative campaigning are to outline the flaws of a party, in turn influencing others to vote in favour of their own party. Attack ads are utilized so frequently in politics thanks to their ability to accomplish these objectives simultaneously. While attack ads can be viewed as necessary on occasion, such as the Nixon administration in 1968 highlighting the consequences of the Vietnam War in their ads, they are often created simply to deflect attention from a party’s own shortcomings.
One recent example of this is the United Conservative Party’s ad claiming that Rachel Notley, leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party, is “wanting us to forget” about her time as Alberta premier. However, in many ways, this advertisement is “wanting us to forget” about common criticisms against the UCP from their time in office. This advertisement came months after Jason Kenney, former leader of the UCP, announced his resignation from Alberta politics due to the backlash he received as premier. The new UCP leader, Danielle Smith, is already under public scrutiny thanks to the Alberta Sovereignty Act passed to disregard federal policies.
Negative campaigning, unfortunately, is utilized by nearly every Canadian political party. For instance, the New Democratic Party under Jack Layton released a 2011 advertisement equating the Bloc Québécois’ efforts to obtain seats in Parliament to a hamster wheel: unproductive and unsuccessful. The Liberal Party last year countered Erin O’Toole, the Conservative Party Leader at the time, and his claims to “Take Back Canada” by stating that O’Toole would “take Canada backward”. Especially in the modern era of increasing political divide worldwide, it is no longer acceptable for parties to disparage each other. Rather than focusing on reasons to not vote for a party, parties must instead show reasons to vote for their party. It is crucial that we avoid raising tensions any further and instead accept one another for our individual political ideologies. Negative campaigning is only stoking the fire of the Canadian political divide.
Canadian politics is in a state of tension, with parties holding an ‘us vs. them’ mentality that comes across in their advertisements. To promote greater trust in Canadian political figures, political parties must hold themselves accountable to their actions rather than deflect attention from them. To foster greater unity in Canada, advertisements should avoid antagonizing others for the sake of another party’s gain. A 15-second advertisement can do a lot to influence constituents; let’s hope our parties use those 15 seconds for good.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the WSCRCA or its members.
