Ads claiming Trudeau supports brothels target ethnic social conservatives

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau recently warned that inthefinal days of the campaign, the Conservatives would "throw every nasty ad and every dirty trick in the book," claimingthat's howthe Toriescame into office.

Actually, inthe dying days of the 2006 election campaign, it was a desperateLiberal Party thatunleashed a flurry of ominous over-the-top negative ads against the Tories, warning of a secret right-wing agendaand suggesting a Harperwin could lead to"soldiers with guns. In our cities. In Canada."

But now,aspolls suggestmomentum is behind the Liberals, the Tories have unveiled their own set of attack ads,targeting their social conservative base by drumming up fears of a Trudeau government.

• Conservative ads aimed at Chinese, Punjabi voters claim Trudeau backs brothels, pot sales to kids
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Placed in local newspapersand flyers, theads ask whether Trudeau shares their values. The adsstate that a Liberal governmentwouldlegalize marijuana, "making access easier for kids." They warnthere wouldbelegal drug-injection sites in our neighbourhoods and thatprostitution would be legalized, "putting brothels in our communities."

"Those aren't our values either. Vote for your values," the adstates.

Message not new

The message isn't exactly new.Harper has said in the past that injurisdictions where marijuana is legal, such as parts of the U.S. and Europe, the drug becomes "more readily available to children, more people become addicted."

Conservative candidate Jason Kenney recently said thatTrudeauwants toforcecommunities toestablish legaldrug-injectionsites andthat the Liberalssupportthelegalizationofprostitution and would force communities to acceptbrothels

Tory candidateTerenceYoung took it a step further at a recent all-candidates debate inOakville, Ont.,when he said a federalLiberalgovernment would mandate "legally protected brothels with madams and all that goes with that because the Liberals have promised to legalize the selling of women in Canada."

"What family wouldinvesttheir life savings in a home near amarijuanastore, abrothelor a drug-injection site," Young said.

What's different with these adsis the target Chinese and Punjabi-speaking voters who the Tories believe share their social conservative values. And they're being released in areasRichmond and South Vancouver in B.C., and Richmond Hill andMarkham in Ontario that are considered key battleground ridings.

Harper, at a campaignstop inBrantford, Ont., defended the ads.

Dealing with 'facts,' Harper says

"You know, the other guys will claim that it's fear when all we're trying to do is to draw attention to facts. Facts that they're actually not willing to talk about," Harper said."And they're running a campaign on three or four slogans, and it's time that Canadians, as we approach election day, look at the platforms and the direction for the country."

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The ads seem to be part of the Tories'refocused message warning Canadians there will be negative consequences if Trudeauis elected. It's the same strategy in which Harper uses a cash register sound prop at every campaign stop, saying that aTrudeau government will suck the savings from average Canadians.

Trudeau, for his part, seems to be shrugging off the attacks. When asked about the ads at a campaign stop in Hamilton, hedidn't respond to the specific allegations, instead saying they are examples of Harper's campaign tactics.

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Trudeau was reacting to Conservative attack ads in ethnic media outlets

"I think we've seen over the course of this campaign, and indeed, over the course of Mr. Harper's government, that he never misses an opportunity to divide, to play up fear and division, and even to directly mislead Canadians. Canadians are tired of that," he said.

Misleading ads?

"I think it is up to Mr. Harper to explain why he'schoosing to mislead Canadians."

How misleading are the ads?Trudeauis in favour of legalizing marijuana,though he arguesthat the current laws, and not his proposals calling for regulation of the drug,make access much easier for children. And he is also in favourof opening more supervised drug-injection sites like the onein Vancouver, but for the purpose of harm reduction.

As for brothels,the Conservatives have connected thattoTrudeau'svoteagainst the Tories' prostitution bill, legislationintroduced afterthe Supreme Court of Canadastruck downin a unanimous decision the previous law as unconstitutional. However, the Liberals have no policy regarding the legalization of prostitution, let alonebrothels in communities.

"We won't have brothels in every corner," Liberal candidateNavdeepBainssaid onCBC'sPower & Politics with Rosemary Barton.

But the Tories are not the only party to have launched attack ads this campaign. The Liberals themselves have put out an ad to new Canadianssuggesting that the Conservatives'Bill C-24could give a politician the right to revoke their citizenship failing to mention they would have to be convicted of terrorism or treason.

The NDP launchedseries of ads against Trudeauthataccused the leaderof being hostile to the autoand manufacturing sectors and slammed him forcharging thousands of dollars ofspeaking fees for appearances at school boards and charities.

The Bloc Qubcois released an ad last month showing a drop of oil morphing into a niqab,anattack onthe New Democratic Party's position on allowing niqabs during citizenship ceremonies.