Politics This Morning: Holiday ads, examined

Good Wednesday morning, There isn’t much going on in the world of federal politics today—at least not in public and in person. The work never ends, however, for the fundraising, engagement-harvesting, digital marketing organizations we know as the Liberal and Conservative parties of Canada. Even over the holidays. What message are the heavyweight parties sending to voters as they settle into their holiday habits? “Many” is the answer. But which messages are so important the parties are willing to pay to send them? PTM perused the paid ads that the Liberal and Conservative parties were running yesterday on Facebook and Instagram to get a feel for where their priorities lie right now. Here’s what we found. The Liberal Party of Canada was running a little more than 20 ads or ad variants yesterday. Many were graphically designed to match a Christmas theme, though without any explicit markers of the holiday—a lot of Christmas-card chic. Mostly the ads were designed to fool viewers into surrendering their personal information, as per usual. “Sign the holiday card for the Trudeau family today and we’ll pass along your message – but keep the secret until it’s delivered!” (OMG! I can’t wait to fill in my first name/last name/postal code/email. And look at the cute chickadee on the card!) Don't spoil the secret you guys! Screencapture of Facebook's ad library Other ads skipped a step and asked for donations. One promised a Liberal-branded mug for any donation of $99 or more. Another reminded viewers of the associated tax credit for donating to a political party. Perhaps half of the ads were issue-based. One featured a 30-second video of Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU highlighting government initiatives related to child care, dental care, rent subsidies, and gun control, before asking us to “chip in today. Keep Canada moving forward.” Other issue-focused ads mentioned the new ban on the manufacture or importation of some single-use plastics; the move to eliminate interest from federal student loans; income-support payouts; policies to help aspiring home-buyers; and dental care. The overarching message here is that the Liberal Party wants your cash, and your personal information, and only it can “keep Canada moving forward.” The Conservative Party of Canada was running a little more than 30 digital ads yesterday. Wouldn’t you know it, the Conservative Party is also offering a chance to send a Christmas card to the Poilievre family! It would additionally like you to weigh in—yes or no, plus personal info—on whether Trade Minister MARY NG should resign after being found in violation of the Conflict of Interest Act, although it appears that the party has made its mind up already, as your only choice, once clicking through, is to call for Ng’s resignation. A slew of ads repeats what could charitably be described as intellectual dishonesty about the government’s controversial online steaming bill, C-11. Others warn that the Liberal Party is raising money to prepare for a spring election, and urge viewers to “help Pierre build his campaign war chest.” Other Conservative ads zero in on the government’s proposal to ban a lengthy list of long guns—“stop the Liberal hunting rifle ban”—and others put the CBC and the Bank of Canada in the figurative crosshairs. A sampling of the paid ads the Conservative Party was running on Facebook and Instagram yesterday. Screencapture of Facebook's ad library The overarching message here is that the governing Liberals are a threat, and the Conservative Party needs you to “help us stop them.” The third-place Bloc Québécois was not running any ads on Facebook or instagram yesterday, nor was the NDP. What’s the cabinet up to? Not much, at least in public. We do know that Trade Minister Mary Ng has another headache to deal with today. U.S. Trade Representative KATHERINE TAI announced yesterday that the U.S. was expanding the breadth of its formal complaint that Canada is shirking its commitments under the CUSMA trade agreement. Canada and the U.S. are already fighting over whether Canada’s dairy protectionism violates the trade deal. They are doing so through a dispute resolution process created through the trade agreement. Now the U.S. is essentially expanding the list of dairy-related policies that it is complaining about—specifically, “Canada’s market-share approach for determining allocations.” What else is happening today? Statistics Canada has another batch of new data coming out this morning. That includes the key inflation marker known as the Consumer Price Index. In this case, we’re getting access to CPI data for November. StatsCan is also releasing data on Canada’s population, on COVID-19 vaccination, and more. The last population estimate released by the agency pegged Canada’s population at 38.9 million. Perhaps today will be the day we learn it has surpassed 39 million? In the news What do nature groups have to say about the outcome of the UN biodiversity conference in Montreal? KEVIN PHILIPUPILLAI fills us in, here. A former MP is eyeing the riding of Portage-Lisgar, which Conservative CANDICE BERGEN will be vacating sometime between now and the next election. ABBAS RANA has the details. On this day in Hansard history Dec. 21, 1973: Ottawa was still digging itself out from a storm that had dumped more than 37 cm of snow on the city the previous day as MPs arrived on the Hill for a Friday sitting. Prime Minister PIERRE TRUDEAU didn’t know it yet, but his second son, ALEXANDRE, would be born four days later, on Christmas, just as older brother Justin had been two years before. Gay Pride Week had been celebrated for the first time in the country in August. In November, HENRY MORGANTALER had been acquitted by a Quebec jury that was unimpressed by charges brought against him for providing abortions, the first of several such acquittals over a span of a few years. ELTON JOHN’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was storming to the top of the music charts. BRUCE LEE’s Enter the Dragon and AL PACINO’s Serpico were keeping holiday movie-goers on the edge of their seats; released a few days later, The Exorcist would soon send some running right out of the theatre. In the House of Commons, MPs spent a part of Question Period jousting over who was responsible for the misfortune of one MRS. DESBIENS, an elderly woman who was in the bath when multiple Mounties burst into her bathroom looking for illicit drugs. The confused officers did so using a warrant issued for PAUL DESBIENS, Mrs. Desbiens’ son, who lived in another apartment in the same building in Ottawa. According to then-solicitor general WARREN ALLMAND, it was Mrs. Desbiens’ daughter in law who had directed police to the wrong apartment. There was also an eerily familiar upset over leadership in Canada’s junior hockey association. Conservative MP ROCH LA SALLE wanted to know whether the government planned to investigate reports of violence between the players. Health Minister MARC LALONDE assured La Salle that he planned to discuss the matter with the leadership of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. Tory JOHN FRASER asked whether there was any federal money going to the junior hockey association that could be withdrawn if its leaders were “not prepared to cut out some of the violence and cease encouraging brutality in our national sport.” Lalonde likened Fraser’s suggestion to “threats and blackmail,” and said he was sure that the matter could be resolved without resorting to either. MPs would spend much of the remaining time in a technical discussion about clauses of the law governing election expenses and a debate on a motion about subsidizing family farms. At around 7 p.m., MPs agreed to adjourn for the Christmas holiday, with a plan to return promptly on Jan. 3. Send your news tips to pmazereeuw@hilltimes.com