Ontario's long-expected — but never confirmed — early election has yet to be called, but the advertising war has already begun.
On Monday, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) began an "unprecedented" election advertising campaign aimed at getting all the political parties and voters to take issues facing municipalities more seriously.
"While the next provincial election isn't scheduled until June 2026, I think we're all hearing whispering that it might come early, and AMO is not waiting for these whispers to become a reality," said president and Mayor of Westport, Robin Jones at a press conference on Sunday morning.
"AMO will be launching a province-wide advertising campaign to make sure that voters know what municipalities need to improve affordability in order to deliver the quality of life that we all expect and that all political parties know what commitments are needed to appeal to people who live, work and invest in Ontario."
The campaign includes full-page ads in major and regional newspapers, social media ads, as well as digital advertisements on various websites — including those run by Village Media, which owns The Trillium.
The ads will call on Ontarians to "vote like your quality of life depends on it" and will continue until the end of the election, with AMO and ROMA planning to register as third-party advertisers.
Under the controversial Protecting Ontario Elections Act, which the PCs passed using the notwithstanding clause in 2021, AMO and ROMA cannot spend more than $600,000 on advertising in the year before the election begins. But since, officially, the scheduled election is still more than a year away, this limitation may not be in effect.
Once the writ is dropped, the municipal organizations will be limited to spending a maximum of $100,000.
This is the first time that AMO and ROMA have launched a paid political advertising campaign, but AMO executive director Brian Rosborough said the organizations felt they needed to take this step due to the severity of the issues municipalities are facing at the moment.
"It is simply the case that Ontario's communities, large and small, in every part of Ontario, are managing with a system that is no longer working," said Rosborough.
Rosborough noted that cities are struggling to build the infrastructure required to allow the building of more housing. He also mentioned an AMO study found there are at least 80,000 homeless Ontarians "as a result of provincial policies," with municipalities being forced to rely on ever-increasing property taxes to fund local services.
"It's the time now. If there's an election, we need to be fully engaged in that on behalf of our members in every part of Ontario to make sure that what is good for communities has an impact on the way parties create their mandates and the way voters behave in the next election," he said.
During this term in office, the PCs have presided over a large increase in homelessness in Ontario. The PCs have refused calls from cities asking for a new financial arrangement, similar to the "new deals" obtained by Toronto and Ottawa.
Despite the fact that much of AMO's criticism appears to be aimed at the current government, Rosborough stressed the advertising campaign will be "non-partisan" and will not single out any one political party.
"AMO is a non-partisan organization, and our engagement in the provincial election needs to be fully expressed in that non-partisan way," said Rosborough. "
Asked if municipal funding is an issue that will resonate with voters, Rosborough admitted that many people "may not understand the relationship between municipalities and the province," but part of the reason to do an advertising campaign is to inform them.
The campaign was announced during the first day of ROMA's annual conference, which is taking place in Toronto this week.
The advertisements will go live while Premier Doug Ford and Agriculture Minister Rob Flack speak at the conference on Monday morning.
