OTTAWA — Liberals waged a pre-election offensive yesterday, unleashing a blitz of bilingual television ads in the run-up to a possible autumn campaign.

The three simple 30-second spots — one in English and two in French — feature Leader Michael Ignatieff attacking the Conservative government's record on the economy and the environment, declaring: "We can do better." Three more ads will follow in coming days on similar themes.

Rocco Rossi, national director of the Liberal Party of Canada, said the ads that portray Ignatieff as a leader of "vision and hope" over personal attacks come as the public tunes in to federal politics after a summer breather.

"You want to provide messages when people are focused and looking to hear them. Summer definitely wasn't the time for that," he said. "For many months we have been trying to make Parliament work. Arguably we are the only opposition party that has been trying to do that."

Rossi would not reveal the cost of the pre-writ ad campaign, but said it's a "significant" national buy.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney slammed the ads as a party ploy to reinvent Ignatieff, who made critical remarks about his homeland while living and working abroad.

"The Liberal Party is trying to rehabilitate the reputation of their leader with an ad campaign. But it's a ruse. It’s phony," he said. "Michael Ignatieff is trying to re-cast himself as a man of the people, a leader who can be entrusted with the Canadian economy. He is hoping Canadians will forget his record. He's hoping Canadians won't notice that he's putting Canada's economic recovery at risk by forcing an unnecessary election."

The ads come one week before the House of Commons is set to resume Sept. 14. Ignatieff has warned his caucus will no longer support the Conservatives, but Liberals need the NDP and Bloc Quebecois to topple the government and trigger an election.

Released on Facebook and youtube.com, Ignatieff delivered a message that Canadians must choose between a "diminished, mean and petty country" under Prime Minister Stephen Harper or a "big Canada" that is generous and open and led by Liberals.

"We’ve had enough of Mr. Harper’s spin and deceit," Ignatieff said in the message posted on Facebook. "Now is the time to put Canada on the path to prosperity. It’s time for change — because we can do better."