Third party advertising is allowed in Ontario election campaigns. This means that whether you agree with it or not, people who are not running in the election can advertise to tell you how to vote. And if you are wondering who the heck is running that strange campaign seemingly against(?) kids, it is the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario.
What the teachers are trying to tell you is that, if you like kids, you really do not want to vote for that nasty Tim Hudak’s Conservative Party. So far the message has been so subtle that most people are simply wondering what the campaign is all about. Hopefully, soon, all will be revealed.
And that is just one of the reasons that many jurisdictions do not allow third party advertising in election campaigns. They can certainly create a serious confusion factor in the campaign. The more serious problem is that it creates loopholes for people to get around any effort to control amounts people can spend on the campaign. It leaves an opening for charges that the election was purchased by the people with the most money to spend. It also allows an opening for extremist and irresponsible advertising.
For example, we have yet to hear from the Ontario Landowners Association. These people have been building a bankroll that can be used to counter the teachers and support Tim Hudak’s Conservatives. No doubt Hudak will take any help he can get but these people are extreme right wing and they can really scare the more middle ground Tories.
The landowners are rural Ontario and ruthless in their demands. They are neo-conservatives and more like Libertarians in supporting a mantra of the rights of property and their hatred for centralized government. They have a band of support in ridings, outside the major cities, anchored by Windsor and Sarnia on the west to Ottawa on the East. These ridings are critical to a Conservative win and only a few are good fighting ground for McGinty’s Liberals.
Many people are equating the landowners with the American Tea Party movement that came out of Texas. It was 50 years ago that this same grade of wackos was driving the John Birch Society movement and they have never lost their hard edge.
If people such as these landowners stick to financial and manpower support for their rural candidates, they can be effective. If they address the entire province through the media with their hatred for liberalism and socialism, there is no telling how mean-spirited this provincial election campaign can become.
-30-
Copyright 2011 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]