Tories lash out at Liberal attack ads
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 | 9:58 PM ET
CBC News
Focusing on one ad that suggested Harper would station armed soldiers on the streets of Canadian cities, Tory MP Jason Kenney told a news conference in Ottawa that the Liberals have sunk to a new low.
The Liberals say they have pulled that ad from their website and will not run it on English TV.
The Conservatives said the ad was running in Quebec, and that it was broadcast in English Canada before it was pulled.
Jason Kenney (file photo)
"This is without precedent in Canadian politics," he said. "This is the most vicious, baseless attack ad that our politics has ever seen."
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The ads follow in a long tradition of nasty campaigning, the most infamous example perhaps being the Progressive Conservative ad showing a still of Jean Chrétien's partially paralyzed face and asking "Does this look like a prime minister?"
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The Conservatives have been expecting this turn in the Liberal campaign strategy.
"This is how low Paul Martin is prepared to go. This is typical of the entire Liberal attack ad strategy."
Kenney said the Liberal leader owes the military and all Canadians an apology.
"This is the man who said we should bring some civility to this campaign?"
Conservative defence critic Gordon O'Connor said territorial defence battalions are in the Tory plans, but insisted they would be used to help out in emergencies such as natural disasters.
