Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford and Premier Kathleen Wynne.  (File photos by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News.)Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford and Premier Kathleen Wynne. (File photos by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News.)
Windsor

Political Scientist Not Surprised Campaign Is Turning Nasty

Could a statement from Premier Kathleen Wynne mark a turning point in the provincial election campaign; a turn for the nasty?

A political scientist at the University of Windsor thinks it was inevitable.

Wednesday, Wynne responded to comments Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford made in Brockville the day before.

Ford was announcing he would call in an outside audit of the Wynne government's spending on his first day in office if his party is elected June 7.

"If Kathleen Wynne tried to pull these kinds of shady tricks in private life, then there would be a few more Liberals joining David Livingston in jail," he said referencing a former top aide of former Premier Dalton McGuinty who was convicted of destroying documents related to the cancellation of gas power plants.

"Doug Ford sounds like Donald Trump, and that's because he is like Donald Trump," Wynne fired back. "He all but chanted 'Lock her up', talking about me."

Lydia Miljan, associate professor of political science at the University of Windsor, serves as a panelist for a viewing party of the first 2016 US presidential debate held in Windsor on September 26, 2016. (Photo by Ricardo Veneza) Lydia Miljan, associate professor of political science at the University of Windsor. (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)

At the University of Windsor, Associate Professor of Political Science Lydia Miljan is not surprised and says the Liberal campaign may have started the tit-for-tat when it launched an taking aim at Ford.

"We know from past elections that the Liberals do fight hard. They sometimes do it directly, and they sometimes do it indirectly," explains Miljan pointing to the use of third-party ads. "This time is a bit different because the Liberals have put forward, I think, a million dollar ad campaign pre-writ to attack Doug Ford. So I guess desperate times call for desperate measures."

The statement from Wynne continues, "Michelle Obama, whom I admire greatly, recommended when they go low, we should go high. I loved that idea when she said it until we ended up with Donald Trump in the White House. So, I'm sorry, but not again. Not here, not in Ontario. I'm not going to go high. I'm not going to go low. I'm going to call that bullying behaviour out for what it is."

"He certainly doesn't have the lock her up chant," responds Miljan. "The thing about attacks is they do have to have a grain of truth to them. So, Doug Ford's attacks on Kathleen Wynne do ring true given the fact some of her aides, at least previous Dalton McGuinty aides, are serving time in prison."

As for whether a vicious election campaign serves the public, Miljan weighs the pros and cons saying there is nothing wrong with a candidate who puts forth their policy and criticizes the platform of the opponent.

"It's not about getting along. It's about substantive differences in how we envision the future," she says. "The problem with attack ads and especially this round of it is it's not talking about policy at all. This is pure personality."

While the Tories are riding high in the polls, a survey earlier this month puts public support at 42.3% with a 90% probability of winning a majority in June, Miljan admits there is a slim chance a nasty campaign will hurt both the Tories and the Liberals.

"There's room for the Conservatives support to go down. Certainly, the NDP could benefit from some of these battles," she says. "But, they are pretty low in the polls."

The same poll suggests the Liberals have 27.8% of public support, while the NDP has 22.6%. However, it says the NDP has just a 0.2% probability of winning the most seats.

Ford makes a visit to Chatham Friday night.

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