QUEEN'S PARK -- Premier Doug Ford’s government spent $4 million on anti-carbon tax television, radio and online commercials as part of an ongoing campaign against the federal regulatory price on carbon emissions.

Ontario’s Auditor General’s review of the “One Little Nickle” commercials found the primary objective of the ad campaign was to foster a "negative impression of the federal government and its carbon pricing policy.

Bonnie Lysyk also notes the taxpayer-funded commercials were designed to present a “positive impression of the provincial governing party.”

The ads featured piles of nickels falling out of gas station hoses and home heating vents to represent the increased cost to consumers resulting from the federal price on carbon emissions.

“The Federal Government is charging you a carbon tax,” the commercial declared.

While a source revealed to CTV News Toronto that the campaign costed “seven figures,” the Ford government never publicly revealed the cost to produce and air the commercials.

The government maintains that the cost is part of a $30-million fund to fight the federal carbon tax.