Allan Gregg - 1993 Election

1993 Election

Gregg was given even more responsibility in the 1993 federal election campaign. He was senior pollster as well as top strategist and communications manager.

The 1993 Conservative Federal campaign was an unmitigated disaster for all concerned, including Gregg. Other campaign leaders complained that his many duties meant he missed too many meetings. Gregg again pushed for negative tactics, crafting an attack ad one of which Canadians found especially distasteful and offensive. The ad ridiculed a facial deformity of Liberal leader Jean Chrétien which was a result of a childhood polio infection. This ad backfired and the Conservatives were reduced to two seats in the Canadian House of Commons from their previous 151 seats. This was the result of a number of factors, including the intense unpopularity of former Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. His party suffered the worst defeat ever in Canadian history for an incumbent federal party.

While the Tory campaign was not going well, this television ad (which aired on only one evening) was a memorable element. Modern Canadian national political campaign coverage has had few noteworthy campaign moments, but much like the 1984 Mulroney Turner debate ("You had an option"), this advertising mistake was memorable. Attacking a physical defect was widely seen by Canadians as a low blow and as an American-style no-holds-barred campaign style that should not be imported. Several years later Gregg wrote about this in the pages of Saturday Night magazine, where his mea culpa rang hollow, as he continued to argue that "the ad tested well in the focus groups."