Justin Trudeau was overwhelmingly elected the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada on Sunday night, and it didn’t take long for the current government to come out swinging with anti-Trudeau television ads, saying the new leader was “in over his head.”
Here’s what you need to know about the Conservative Party of Canada’s smear campaign against the new Liberal Party of Canada Leader.
1. Ads Aired Quickly
Justin Trudeau — Judgement — He’s in way over his head. youtu.be/1qKps7uG6eM #cdnpoli
— Conservative Party (@CPC_HQ) April 15, 2013
Monday morning, less than 24-hours after Trudeau took the helm of the Liberal Party, the ads were popping up on television stations across the country.
2. Trudeau Was Elected Sunday
To all my fellow Liberals: Thank you for your confidence. With hope and hard work we are going to make Canada better. twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/…
— Justin Trudeau, MP (@JustinTrudeau) April 15, 2013
Carrying on his family’s Canadian political dynasty, Justin Trudeau won the Liberal Party of Canada leadership on April 13, 2013 with 80 per cent of the vote on the first ballot.
“Thank you. All of you. For your trust. For your hope. For choosing to be part of this movement we’re building. And on this lovely spring evening in our nation’s capital, I am honored to stand with you, proud to be the Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada,” he said in his acceptance speech.
3. No Election in Sight
Normally attack ads such as these don’t debut until election time, and with Prime Minister Stephen Harper having won a majority government in the last federal election, Canada is still two and a half years out from its next vote, tentatively scheduled for October 19, 2015.
4. The Ads May Backfire
We feel @justintrudeau should be applauded for his support of a serious health issue that affects 3.4 million Cdns #cdnpoli
— Cdn Liver Foundation (@CdnLiverFdtn) April 15, 2013
The ad features footage of the new leader doing a ‘striptease’ set to cheesy carousel music. Without context the average voter might be a little shocked, but as the Huffington Post notes, the ‘striptease’ was for a charity event for the Canadian Liver foundation, at which Trudeau raised thousands of dollars.
5. He Won’t Retaliate
Conservatives are already back in the gutter. Help us & be part of the change: liberal.ca/you-just-have-… #LPC #cdnpoli
— Liberal Party (@liberal_party) April 16, 2013
Trudeau’s camp has no plan to return the Tory’s negative propaganda. Saying, as the Globe and Mail reports, that Canadians are tired “of negativity, of bullying, of cynicism,” adding “the Conservatives are going to discover that the one thing they know how to do really well is no longer working for them.”