OTTAWA - Michael Ignatieff is taking the high-road -- or at least a peaceful wooded path -- in the first set of television ads produced since he was named Liberal leader.

Ignatieff last week declared he could no longer support the Conservative government, and the commercials are the party's first pre-electoral strike.

They're also a sign the party is more flush -- former leader Stephane Dion had few bucks to spend on expensive national ads in the run-up to the last election.

In the English spot, Ignatieff is dressed in a plain blue shirt and set against a sunlit forest backdrop, the style somewhat reminiscent of former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien's friendly, man-of-the-people denim look of the 1993 campaign.

Ignatieff smiles as he tells viewers that Canada "needs a new way of thinking, a government that thinks big, that has a global perspective."

He says Canada should be reaching out to China and India, and notes that Canadians he's met on his travels are "the best the world has to offer."

It's a deliberately positive response to the Conservative attack ads released earlier in the year that portrayed Ignatieff as an arrogant international academic with no sincere connection to Canada.

"For years the Conservatives have used the tactic of pre-writ advertising that's focused on personal attacks on the opposing leader," says Rocco Rossi, the Liberal party's national director.

"We believe we can do better, not only in policy but in attitude and tone in campaigning. These ads strike a tone and message that we believe that Canadians want to hear. That's a message of hope and a message focused on vision, and contrasting vision and record instead of personal attacks."

The slogan in English -- which Rossi says has worked well in focused testing -- is "We can do better," and "We deserve better," in French.

The two French-language TV ads are more critical of the Conservatives.

Ignatieff is set against a dark studio background, and in one spot earnestly reminds voters that the Tories predicted there would be no recession or deficit and admitted to both within the same year.

The Tories are "completely disconnected from reality and irresponsible," he says, this time wearing a dark-coloured jacket.

In the second commercial, focused on the environment, Ignatieff says that after four years and three environment ministers, Canada has slipped to the bottom of the pack of G8 countries in fighting climate change.

The Liberals are trying to take Ignatieff's international expertise, as a journalist, professor and author, and turn it into a positive rather than a negative.

Patrick Muttart, a Conservative who had a hand in developing his own party's advertising, argues the Liberal ad actually does the opposite, playing to a "rich, urban, internationalist" segment of the population.

"Quite frankly, he doesn't need additional "snob" votes as there are none left on the table," said Muttart, former deputy chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper now at an American public affairs firm.

"He's got a lock on this corner of the political marketplace."

The focus on the leader in the commercials is also key -- the party is working to better acquaint Canadians with Ignatieff, and define him in the eyes of voters before the Conservatives can do more damage to his image.

"Surely a leader that is more open and curious and committed to Canada's place in the world...is the kind of leadership that not only Canadians want but that Canadians need in the current circumstances," said Rossi.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said in an email that Ignatieff's attempt to "recast himself as a man of the people," is a "ruse."

"He's hoping Canadians will forget his record," Kenney said, referring to the 34 years Ignatieff spent abroad.

"He's hoping Canadians won't notice that he's putting Canada's economic recovery and risk by forcing an unnecessary election."