Ontario's Progressive Conservatives outspent their opponents during last winter's provincial election by more than $6 million, but one of their nearest rivals says the governing party had a "massive head start" because of its use of taxpayer-funded advertising months ahead of the snap vote.
The election spending figures come from mandatory filings more than six months after the writ period. Premier Doug Ford called the winter election seeking a new mandate to address U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats and cruised to a third-straight majority government in February.
His PC Party spent $15.3 million on its campaign, running well ahead of the Ontario Liberals, which spent $8.9 million, the Ontario New Democrats, which spent $8.5 million, and the Green Party, which spent $1.4 million.
While the PC Party did not comment on the spending, conservative strategist Mitch Heimpel said the party's campaign got the results it wanted.
"With the third straight majority government, the first premier to accomplish that since the 1950s, Doug Ford got what he wanted out of his advertising budget," Heimpel said.
Ford called the early vote more than a year ahead of what was to have been an election scheduled for June 2026. The premier had spent the previous two months pushing back against Trump and his trade war, casting himself, and the primary issue of the early call as a move to "protect Ontario."
Advertising was the largest single campaign expense for all of Ontario's major political parties during the election. The financial statements show the Tories spent the most on advertising during the campaign, $7.6 million, followed closely by the Liberals at nearly $6.6 million, while NDP spent $5.4 million. The Green party spent $750,000.
But Ontario Liberal Party president Kathryn McGarry said the election filings don't show the months of government-funded advertising that gave Ford's party a "massive head start" before the writ period.
"While our party ran a focused, grassroots campaign powered by volunteers and small donations, the PCs had the advantage of both deeper pockets and the megaphone of taxpayer-funded ads promoting their government," McGarry said in a statement.
"That's not a level playing field -- it's an abuse of public dollars to boost a partisan re-election effort."
Last December, Auditor General Shelley Spence said Ford's government spent three times the amount of money on government advertising in the last fiscal year as it did the year before -- the highest amount ever. She also found most campaigns were more partisan than informational.
Spence wrote in her annual report that for the year ending March 31, 2024, Ontario spent $103.5 million on government advertising, more than three times the $33.7 million it spent in the previous year.
The auditor's report this December will highlight government ad spending in the months immediately preceding the election.
Prior to 2015, government ads considered partisan were banned if the intent was to foster a positive impression of the government or a negative impression of its critics. But the then-Liberal government amended the rules and, despite promising during the 2018 election to undo the changes, the Progressive Conservatives decided to stick with them after forming government.
But money alone doesn't win elections, it takes strategy and a message that resonates with voters, Heimpel said.
"Message wins you elections," he said. "Political skill wins you elections, just raw political talent wins you elections. Money helps, listen, you can be the most raw political talent in the world and have a great message, and if nobody ever hears it, you're in trouble."
During the election campaign the Tories and the Liberals ad buys included Super Bowl ads which are typically among some of the most expensive TV spots you can buy.
Former Liberal cabinet minister John Milloy says sometimes a splashy ad during a major sports event is the right call, but often it can just be persistent, repetition of your message that breaks through to voters.
And the Tories were so flush with cash, they could do both, he said.
"Because the Conservatives had so much money, they were able to repeat the ads over and over again and drive home the message," said Milloy, who is now the director of the Centre for Public Ethics at Martin Luther University College.
Heimpel said the use of targeted advertising on social media platforms, and growing ad pushes on podcasts, shouldn't be underestimated. Facebook, Instagram and YouTube have highly detailed information about their users that political parties can tap into to reach and build their voter coalitions, he said.
"If you were listening to a hockey podcast in Ontario, for example, and you heard an Ontario PC ad. That's not a coincidence," he said. "That's very much a deliberate choice."
Party spending during the election campaign is subject to limits and mandatory reporting six months after the writ period.
The filings detail a wide array of purchases made by the campaigns, including the PC Party's spend of more than $278,000 to Jackpine Dynamic Branding for the "Canada Is Not For Sale" hats worn by Ford and his campaign team during the election.
The reports also detail spending on election night "victory parties," with the Tories spending the most on their bash at $285,000. The Liberals spent $72,000 and the NDP spent $37,000 on their respective gatherings.
There has been fallout for both the Liberals and NDP after their poor election showings.
The Liberals finished second in the popular vote and picked up four new seats, but they remain in third place in seat count. The NDP captured enough seats to continue as the official opposition, but their share of the popular vote dropped from the previous election.
Frustration within Liberal party ranks contributed to a poor result in a leadership review which prompted Bonnie Crombie's resignation last month. NDP Leader Marit Stiles received a tepid endorsement from party members at a convention last month, but says she will stay on to lead the party.
Stiles had told CBC News in July that a lack of resources and direct attacks from an aggressive PC campaign forced the party to play defense in order to hold a number of its seats. The party emphasized that again in a statement Friday.
"We made strategic choices about how we spent that money during the early election," Mayeesha Chowdhury said. "Over the past year, we have continued to exceed our fundraising targets so we can be in the strongest position possible to keep up the fight against Doug Ford and get ready for the next campaign."
While cash may not guarantee an election win, having less of it during a race can be an obstacle, said McMaster University political science professor Peter Graefe.
"If you don't have money to put in place an electoral organization, you're going to be less competitive," Graefe said. "If you don't have the money to put out ads and respond to the ads of other parties, you're going to be less competitive."