In preparation for the June 2 provincial election, the Ontario Liberals are spending more than twice as much on Facebook ads than all rival parties combined, data released by the platform shows.

Between April 15 and May 15, the Ontario Liberal Party (OLP) and its leader, Steven Del Duca, spent $516,000 on Facebook ads, or more than $17,000 per day. Based on the 5.7 million Ontarians who voted in 2018, that works out to about 10 cents per likely voter.

The NDP and ruling Progressive Conservatives (PCs) have spent just over $100,000 each.

How did the parties sell themselves to voters? Facebook also publishes an ad library that provides a look behind the curtain.

The NDP's ads are mainly attacks on Doug Ford. The most widely seen, with over a million impressions, consists only of a five-second text reading "DOUG FORD HAS GOT TO GO," and no context. Another, with about 600,000 impressions, consists of a still image of NDP Leader Andrea Horwath with the text "FIGHT TO SAVE ONTARIO."

The NDP's negative ads are almost completely directed at Ford. A rare one aimed at Del Duca connects him to former leader Kathleen Wynne. It's a more traditional, 30-second campaign commercial that develops an argument.

"There's a reason we threw the Liberals out last time," the narrator says, omitting to mention that the PCs won the 2018 election. "Steven Del Duca? Not a chance."

Someone who knows nothing about Ontario politics might conclude from the Liberal and PC ads that the latter are the scrappy underdogs and the Liberals are the incumbents, running on their record and projecting optimism and confidence.

The PCs' most-seen ad in 2022 also tries to connect Del Duca and Wynne. Oddly, the clip it uses is similar to the one used by the NDP, in which Del Duca stares silently at the camera, giving the impression he's politely waiting for a TV interview to begin.

"He worked side by side with Kathleen Wynne, as they sent our hydro bills skyrocketing," the narrator says, reminding rural voters of sharp hikes in electricity rates under the Wynne government.

"Now, Del Duca wants to take us back to that failed Kathleen Wynne era."

Interestingly, PC negative ads are fairly evenly divided between attacks on the Liberals and the NDP.

A pair of positive and negative ads launched at the same time emphasize the PCs' "get it done" campaign slogan in an upbeat ad that Ford narrates, while inverting the message in the other ad to attack the NDP.

"Andrea Horwath’s NDP fight, criticize, and delay getting anything done," the tag line charges.

The Liberals' ads are more positive and policy-focused, with a few exceptions.

The day after the leaders' debate, ads appeared highlighting what the Liberal war room clearly believed to be Del Duca's best moments.

"Missed the leaders’ debate?" it asks. "You can watch the highlights now."

The Liberals' only hard-edged negative ad concerns abortion. Mentioning the endangered Roe v. Wade decision in the United States, the ad segues into a speech against abortion by socially conservative PC MPP Sam Oosterhof, then issues the warning: "If you're worried the Conservatives could secretly roll back abortion rights in Ontario, you should be."

The ad was disproportionately seen by voters aged 25 to 44.

The federal Liberals spent far more than their rivals on Facebook ads during the 2021 election, too.

The New Blue Party uses Tinder, the online dating app, as a slightly risqué premise: A woman holding a phone swipes right on Mike Harris and Stephen Harper, but hesitates over Doug Ford.

"Doug Ford pretends to be True Blue, but that is NOT TRUE," the ad says, going on to show him meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Swiping left, the obvious next move, is implied rather than shown, as is swiping right on Jim and Belinda Karahalios, the party's leader and sole MPP, respectively.

Ontario Liberals betting heavily on Facebook ads

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