TORONTO - New attack ads launched by Ontario's governing Liberals "smack of desperation" and show the party doesn't believe it can win the fall election on its record alone, opposition parties said Tuesday.
"You've got the stench of fear here, especially for the Liberals to be doing this sort of low life negative advertising in the pre-writ period, when they're not covered by election spending rules," said New Democrat Peter Kormos.
"I don't think Ontarians buy it, I don't think they like it."
The 30-second ad released Tuesday features Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak and newspaper comments saying that he treats voters like "dolts" and "chumps" and lacks a credible platform.
"Reviews for Hudak's platform are in, here's what people are saying," the narrator says.
"Hudak refuses to tell voters the truth," reads one quote from the Globe and Mail.
"Harris history about to repeat itself," adds another from the Hamilton Spectator.
The ad stands in stark contrast to the Liberals' other spots so far, which showcase kids, doctors and auto workers and list the government's achievements.
It's also a departure for Premier Dalton McGuinty, who has chosen to stay away from negative campaigns in the past.
"It certainly smacks to me of desperation," said Progressive Conservative critic Elizabeth Witmer.
"Its' also an indication that they have no plan themselves and so they're forced to respond in this way."
Infrastructure Minister Bob Chiarelli defended the ad, saying the party owes it to voters to point out the holes in the Tory platform.
"I think that McGuinty has shown courageous leadership in a whole range of very significant issues and I think Tim Hudak is wimping out, making flimsy promises that have no substance and cannot be backed up by any third party advocate with any credibility whatsoever," Chiarelli said.
"There's no plan, there's no priorities, there's no policies. It's a sham. It's a scam."
A senior government official said the ad was the first in what will be a very "aggressive" campaign throughout the summer, which will also feature the New Democrats and "the risks that they pose."
"This is the next step to begin to shine a light on the PCs' reckless platform," the official said.
The party will also continue to run the feel-good ads, none of which feature the premier.
The Progressive Conservatives have already taken out ads that call McGuinty "the taxman," although they themselves aren't planning to eliminate the taxes they criticize the premier for.
But Witmer insisted her party's attack ad is more credible than the Liberals' because they "accurately reflect what has been happening as far as Dalton McGuinty is concerned."
The New Democrats are the only one of the three parties that hasn't gone negative, and Kormos said Leader Andrea Horwath had no plans to "climb into the sandbox" and change that.
Voters head to the polls Oct. 6.
