Not that there’s any lack of entries in this category, but you can add government advertising to the list of things-politicians-oppose-until-they’re-in-power.
As the curtain begins to come down on the Lower Mainland’s TransLink tax plebiscite, B.C. taxpayers have been reminded what happens when politicians have hold of our chequebooks during an election campaign.
In opposition in 1999, Christy Clark hammered the NDP government for spending $700,000 in taxpayer money on advertising their budget.
In 2013, the government-opposition roles in B.C. had reversed. Clark’s B.C. Liberal government unashamedly spent a big chunk of its $36 million taxpayer-funded communications budget on slick TV ads, touting their economic record and jobs plan and laying the foundation for their improbable comeback win.
The opposition NDP – once the guilty advertiser – was outraged by this malodorous spending, even launching a petition calling for an end to taxpayer-funded partisan ads.
Sadly, that new New Democrat position seems to have gone the way of the dodo. With both the B.C. Liberals and NDP firmly supporting the TransLink tax campaign, the provincial parties turned a blind eye to TransLink mayors spending $7 million in taxpayer dollars to win this plebiscite.
This flip-flop seems to happen whenever a new government moves into power. In Ottawa, a government advertising scandal helped bring down the Liberal Party a decade ago, much to the delight of the Conservatives. In the decade since, some estimates have those same Tories spending as much as $750 million on taxpayer-funded ads, many of which have promoted their political agenda.
In November, B.C. Auditor General Carol Bellringer tried to bring common sense to the issue.
Bellringer recommended government prohibit partisan political information in government communications, and put together specific guidelines setting out what should or should not be included in ads.
While the Canadian Taxpayers Federation generally chafes at the idea of adding another government committee, it’s clear no party, of any political stripe, can be trusted to do the right thing when it comes to advertising on our dime. At least not once they form government.
It seems politicians will spend anything to get re-elected, especially when it’s taxpayers footing the bill. It’s time to put pressure on them to close the chequebook and campaign with their own money – not ours.
Jordan Bateman is the B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
