From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   He must have run out of other platforms.  Here are some truths about his   
   economic record - anyone running on these is more than a bit desperate - or a   
   liar believing he can convince his audiences.   
   ____________________________________   
      
   Unifor Running Anti-Stephen Harper Radio Ads In Swing Ridings   
      
   OTTAWA -- Canada's largest private sector union is ramping up its   
   anti-Conservative campaign, telling voters in swing ridings why they shouldn't   
   vote for Stephen Harper.   
      
   Unifor is running radio ads in five strategically chosen locations: Vancouver,   
   Winnipeg, Regina, the Greater Toronto Area and Moncton, N.B.   
      
   "We're talking about Harper's economic record, which is abysmal to say the   
   least," Unifor national president Jerry Dias told The Huffington Post Canada   
   this week. "[Harper] is running a platform of being the best economic manager,   
   but all the numbers say    
   that the Conservatives are a total disaster."   
      
   Last year, the United States created two million full-time jobs, while Canada   
   created 140,000 positions, Dias said, adding that 80 per cent of those jobs   
   were precarious and part-time.   
      
   "The ads are really a discussion of: Are people really better off? And the   
   answer is no."   
      
   Unifor plans a significant media campaign -- mostly on radio -- until the writ   
   drops. Once the election is called, the union is handicapped by third-party   
   spending rules that cap the amount it can spend in any given riding at $3,000,   
   up to a maximum of $   
   150,000 across the country.  The group plans to put up billboards in swing   
   ridings during the official campaign.   
      
   The radio ads, which air 36 times a week on three main radio stations in each   
   of those five markets, attack Harper for doing nothing to help the struggling   
   middle class.   
      
   "Canada's economy has done worse under Stephen Harper than under any other   
   leader since World War II," the ad states.   
      
   "Wages haven't kept up with the rising costs of living.  Unemployment has   
   increased.  And the jobs that are being created are mostly low-wage, part-time   
   jobs."   
      
   Now, Unifor said, it plans to target the Conservatives in seats in Windsor and   
   London, Ont., by pulling out of Toronto and focusing its message on health   
   care. The union has a large number of members it could mobilize in each of   
   those cities.   
      
   "There is no question in my mind, that if [Harper] ends up with another   
   majority government, health care in Canada is finished," Dias told HuffPost.     
   "You can't take $36 billion out of the health care system in the next decade   
   and expect that you're going to have a system that is still universal.   
      
   "The money that is spent on income splitting would preserve universal health   
   care in Canada," he added.   
      
   The head of Unifor said he is not content to preach to Liberal or NDP   
   supporters - he plans to go after the Conservatives' base.   
      
   "A lot of them have bought into this fiscal responsibility argument, but I   
   also believe Canadians inherently love their social programs and want their   
   social programs," Dias said.  "I think if they really understand that this is   
   about destroying the    
   country that we love, people are going to start to second-guess it."   
      
   Unifor would not reveal the total cost of the campaign.  Roland Kiehne, its   
   director of political action and member mobilization, said the details have   
   yet to be hammered out, though Dias estimated the cost at hundreds of   
   thousands of dollars. Right now,    
   the union has no plans to run television ads.   
      
   Together with other labour groups and the polling firm EKOS, Kiehne said   
   Unifor identified three themes that would resonate best with the audience it's   
   trying to reach: the economy, health care and retirement security. I   
      
   t also also identified 40 target ridings where it believes it can stop   
   Conservative incumbents.   
      
   "If we can get our members to the ballot boxes, we can be game-changers,"   
   Kiehne said.   
      
   In addition to the radio ads, Unifor is leading an "I will vote" campaign that   
   is similar to Leadnow's strategic "vote together" pledge. It is also   
   encouraging its members under 35 years of age to mobilize other young voters.   
      
   Two years ago, when Unifor was created as a merger of the Canadian Auto   
   Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, Dias   
   declared that its size -- more than 305,000 -- would allow it to be more   
   influential.   
      
   "Unifor is here because it's time to stop playing defence, and it's time we   
   started to play offence," Dias in a fiery inaugural address in August 2013.   
      
   After Progressive Conservatives lost in Ontario's general election last year,   
   Dias said he planned to defeat Harper just as the labour movement had defeated   
   then-PC leader Tim Hudak.   
      
   But his week, Dias struck a more cautious tone.   
      
   "We are certainly going to try," he said.  "Harper, to his credit, is no   
   Hudak.  Hudak ran the world's most foolish campaign.   
      
   Dias said he believes this election, to be held on Oct. 19, is the most   
   important one yet.   
      
   Emboldened by the NDP win in Alberta, he said he believes that Canadians are   
   looking at other options and that Unifor needs to play a role.   
      
   "You don't have an impact on the politics of the country unless people are   
   having the discussion," he said.   "For us, an educated electorate votes."   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)