Late campaign attack ads tying the NDP to unions failed to resonate with voters, election results showed last night.
The Progressive Conservatives and Liberals both tried to use $45,000 in donations returned by the NDP to the Mainland Nova Scotia Building Trades Council to imply the NDP were beholden to unions.
Dexter was repeatedly hammered over the subject last week at a leaders’ roundtable, but it didn’t slow him down from winning a healthy majority.
Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union President Joan Jessome arrived at the NDP victory party last night and shook her head when asked about the attack ads focusing on unions.
“You have no idea how much that disappointed me,” she said. “Actually it kind of tore at my principles. Even talking about it now is just, it really didn’t allow us to be who we are, advocating on behalf of workers and on behalf of public services.”
Jessome said she felt like organized labour was being portrayed as organized crime in the attack campaigns. She wouldn’t say working with an NDP government would be easier than the Tories, but she did say it will be more amicable.
“At least I feel that I would have an open communication. I could call Premier Darrell Dexter. I never felt like I could call Rodney MacDonald,” she said.
