Political attack advertisements have garnered a lot of attention, particularly in Canada over the last two elections. The effectiveness of the Conservative Party’s ads have been credited as a factor in their successive election victories. However, the Conservatives were not the only party running smear campaigns. All major federal political parties are guilty of running negative campaigns at some point in their history. So what’s the problem?

Exploitation of voter ignorance.

While it is difficult to deny the effectiveness of attack ads, what makes these ads unethical, in my opinion, is that it panders to the average citizen’s emotions. In other words, Canadians are tricked into making irrational assumptions about individuals based on half-truths and not-the-whole-picture. Political parties are getting votes by taking advantage of the fact that many people don’t care enough to research important issues, but are willing to listen to what a talking head on a screen has to say in between their favourite sitcoms. Simply said, it is much easier to tell people why the other guys are incompetent than it is to educate voters on why you are the best choice to govern the country. Attack ads capture people’s attention.

Now why does this strike a nerve with me? I will admit that I once voted against Stephen Harper because I thought he was the most boring man on the planet. But does his ability to wear only sweaters reflect his ability to lead the nation? A government should not be voted into power because you think Stephen Harper is as interesting as a carrot, because Michael Ignatieff looks like Sam the Eagle or because Jack Layton has the coolest moustache this side of the 49th parallel.

What will make the 2015 federal election interesting is that voters are starting to catch on, especially in light of the Robocall scandal. Not everything you hear is taken at face value any more. For more on attack ads, check out this Maclean’s article from the lead up to the 2011 federal election.

My name is Michael Ignatieff and I endorse this message.