The B.C. NDP has officially taken a right turn off the high road and begun attacking the B.C. Liberals for their record in office.
The party launched a province-wide attack ad on radio Wednesday asking British Columbians whether the Liberals should get another four years after "scandals, mismanagement and misleading voters," CBC News reported.
The ad then goes on to criticize the Liberals' handling of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), which was introduced in 2009 without mentioning it in the party's election platform.
The ad isn't the first time this election that the NDP have resorted to attack ads. The NDP released a B.C. Liberal debt-o-meter on YouTube Monday in which they said that the party has racked up debt faster than any other government in B.C. history.
The negative turn comes after an election campaign where NDP Leader Adrian Dix has insisted he would not resort to personal attacks.
'[Christy Clark] she's a good person," he said. "I'm not going to run her down in television ads. That belief about Jack Layton that you say what you believe and that you don't run other people down to do it, that's at the core of what we're trying to do here."
Meanwhile, the Liberals aren't backing down from their own attack plan after releasing a video that draws on NDP Leader Adrian Dix's performance in the TV leaders' debate.
Dix said he was 35 years old when he backdated a memo in 1999 to protect then-premier Glen Clark. The attack ad, titled, "I'm Under 35 And I Take Responsibility," shows a number of people pointing out their ages and saying, "I'm taking responsibility."
The attack ads come as the NDP's fortunes have changed drastically in the election, going from a 22 per cent lead over the Liberals in August 2012 to just seven per cent last week.
Dix got testy when faced with questions about Richmond NDP candidate Frank Huang Tuesday, calling the Liberals disrespectful for bringing up his past as a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member.
Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Christy Clark welcomed former deputy chief of staff Kim Haakstad back to her campaign Tuesday, the very same staffer who quit amidst the ethnic vote outreach scandal, CKNW reported.
"She, again, a young woman made a mistake... and about 35 years old... made a mistake, she left and didn't take a penny of severance and admitted she made a mistake and took full responsibility for it," Clark told the radio station.
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