The Distinct Messages of the Liberal, NDP, and Conservative Campaign Launches in Election Year Stand Out
Canada’s Liberal, NDP, and Conservative parties have rolled out campaign advertising videos as they gear up for the 2025 federal election, with a few details standing out.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is currently facing calls to resign from his own caucus, delivers the message on behalf of his Liberal Party.
Both the NDP and the Liberal campaign videos target the Conservative Party–the current front-runner in the polls.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives’ year-end campaign video, titled “Wackos” and released on Dec. 31, puts the focus on key players and policies of the Liberal government.
‘Our Progress Is at Stake’: Liberal Party
The Liberal Party posted its video on social media platform X on Dec. 29, with Trudeau discussing his government’s funding in child care, pharmacare, dental care, and housing.
Trudeau says his party’s work “to build a strong economy that works for all Canadians” is not yet finished, and that a change of governing party to a Conservative one could mean the end of certain programs.
“All of our progress is at stake with Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative Party pushing for deep cuts to the programs Canadians rely on,” Trudeau said.
NDP Criticizes Liberals, Targets Conservatives
Although the NDP’s video ad targets both the Liberals and the Conservatives, there appears more of a focus on criticizing the Tories.
div class=”my-5″>In posting the video on social media on Dec. 30, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh only mentions the Conservatives, saying, “I’m ready to fight to stop Pierre Poilievre before his callous cuts hurt middle class families. I don’t back down, I don’t give up.”
The video starts by describing what Singh calls “the Canadian dream”—a life with a job, access to health care, and basic needs met—which, according to the NDP leader, has yet to become a reality due to the Liberal government’s failure to meet Canadians’ expectations.
Singh then introduces the Conservatives as “another threat to the middle class,” accusing Poilievre and his party of intending to cut health care, housing, and pensions while giving “more to CEOs.” The NDP leader then promises to prevent Poilievre from cutting health care and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump from taking Canadians’ jobs, likely alluding to Trump’s tariff threat.
“No matter who you voted for in the past, together we can fix health care, build homes you can afford, and lower your bills,” Singh said.
The NDP was the last opposition party keeping the minority Liberal government in power by consistently voting to support it in confidence motions.
‘Weird, Wild, Woke’: Tories Target Liberal Government
In releasing his party’s year-end campaign video, Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre wrote on social media on Dec. 31, “WACKOS: the weird, wild, woke & wonderful world of the people running our country.”
The video features clips of Trudeau and some of his key past and present cabinet ministers, including former Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault, and Health Minister Mark Holland.
Some clips show Trudeau making various gestures, while one shows Freeland delivering a graduation ceremony speech, where she says, “Does capitalistic democracy still work? That’s the question being posed around kitchen tables.”
Another shows Guilbeault being arrested in 2001 after having scaled the CN Tower in Toronto to raise awareness about climate change.
The narrator, in a British accent in the style of documentaries, says, “There seems to be an overabundance of wacko events in Canada these days. But who is behind them?”
Other parts of the video mock some key Liberal policies, including government-supplied drugs as part of an approach to tackle the opioid crisis.
As Trudeau faces calls to resign from caucus, the Conservatives have said that all of the Liberal government should be focus of criticism, not just Trudeau.