Liberals went on the attack Tuesday, running a TV ad that quotes a Windsor Star column to attack Conservative Leader Tim Hudak and accusing NDP and Conservative candidates in Windsor West of opposing infrastructure funding in the riding.
"No, no, no, never. Where did they get this?" Helmi Charif, the NDP candidate in Windsor West said Tuesday, responding with bewilderment to a Liberal accusation he opposed millions in infrastructure funding for the riding.
So did Conservative candidate Todd Branch, according to another Liberal news release issued the same day, as the Liberals seemed to switch suddenly to the attack mode with a barrage of news releases, a news conference and new TV ads.
One ad focuses on Hudak close-up, and recites the headline for a recent Windsor Star column: "Hudak treats us like dolts."
Neither Branch nor Charif have ever cast a vote of any kind in the Ontario legislature. The riding has been held for 16 years by departing Liberal cabinet minister Sandra Pupatello.
"I think they're getting a little desperate as the (Oct. 6) election comes closer," Branch said.
Charif insisted he never opposed the funding for the projects that the Liberals say created about 4,400 jobs locally. The Liberal candidate for the riding remains unknown. A nomination meeting hasn't been scheduled and no one has officially thrown a hat into the ring.
"They should choose their candidate first before they start to hammer on me," Charif said.
E S S E X CANDIDATE
A Liberal candidate for Essex will be chosen a week from today.
Public school board trustee Julia Burgess and recently retired ERCA chief Ken Schmidt are the confirmed candidates for the job that became vacant when 18-year veteran Bruce Crozier decided to retire in the fall. He died suddenly June 3 at the age of 73.
The nomination meeting is set for 6: 30 p.m. July 20 at the Macedonian Community Centre, 5225 Howard Ave., LaSalle.
"They're not finding anybody. Nobody is willing to run."
Liberal officials insist that, as Conservative and NDP candidates, Branch and Charif must absolutely be connected to the positions their parties have taken.
"Maybe they're new to politics, but they need to know their party has a history, as does ours," Pupatello said. "Unless they're running as independents, the party they're running for actually matters."
She said the opposition parties opposed the auto company bailouts and all major infrastructure projects that have come into this area. And Pupatello vowed she'll be telling voters that, as she campaigns for the yet-tobe-chosen Liberal candidate. "I think that's total fair game," she said.
Ontario's minister of infrastructure, Bob Chiarelli, said it's "absolutely" accurate that Charif and Branch opposed infrastructure funding for their riding. His government has approved 9,500 projects in Ontario, devoting $27 billion and creating or saving more than 300,000 jobs, he said, and Hudak spoke out against them.
"He's a job killer," said Chiarelli, adding that the NDP also opposed the infrastructure funding.
"Let's be clear," he said. "If you're in caucus, you voted against it, if you're a member of the Conservative party, your party voted against it."
In the Windsor area, he said, the investment amounts to $162 million spread over 78 projects, including the recreation complex in Amherstburg, the Walker Road improvements, the University of Windsor's engineering building and the replacement of the Ojibway Nature Centre.
But Conservative communications director Alan Sakach said the recent attacks simply show "how desperate and panicked the Liberals are getting."
In previous campaigns, Premier Dalton McGuinty proclaimed he was taking the "high road" and staying away from negative ads that feature the opponent's image. But now, the premier is behind in the polls to Hudak. The Liberal ad that started running Tuesday is by McGuinty's own definition a negative ad, said Sakach.
"McGuinty always lectured he'd never go negative, and now it's obvious he's desperate."
The anti-Hudak ad contrasts with a series of 15-second ads that went on the airwaves last week, highlighting the accomplishments of the McGuinty government.
"These ads highlight the positive difference our Liberal plan is making in the lives of Ontario families - while exposing the risk the opposition poses to those families," Christine Mc-Millan, vice-president of communications for the Ontario Liberal Party, said in an email.
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