And I really do mean “signs,” as in billboards.
The fact is, you can’t drive down any street these days without seeing a billboard plastered next to some construction project, boasting about how the new bridge or new parking garage or new whatever was made possible by the Conservative government’s “Economic Action Plan.”
And when it comes to promoting this Economic Action Plan, billboards are only the tip of the marketing iceberg.
The government is also running TV ads to brainwash … oops, I mean to inform Canadians about its various stimulative job-creating initiatives.
You have probably seen them. Typically, they feature smiling actors playing the part of ethnically diverse citizens who, thanks to wise government policies, have landed their dream jobs.
It’s all quite heart-warming, but it’s also quite wrong.
And when I say wrong, I don’t mean to suggest the Economic Action Plan isn’t working as advertised.
In fact, I am sure, if nothing else, this “Action Plan” has probably created lots of jobs for ad agency executives and for billboard makers.
Yet, self-congratulatory government advertising is still wrong for a couple of basic reasons.
First and most obviously, there’s the cost to the taxpayer.
And, make no mistake, these ad campaigns are costly.
A recent Canadian Press report, for instance, revealed the federal government spent an estimated $14-million on the current economic action plan advertising campaign.
Oh, and CP also says the government spent another $18-million to promote programs on employment, old-age security and environmental assessment.
What’s more, CP reports the federal Cabinet has already approved more than $64-million in ad spending for 2012-13.
Most Canadians would likely see this as an irresponsible use of tax dollars, especially considering how the federal government is facing a huge budgetary deficit.
But there is a more serious problem with this sort of government advertising blitz than just wasted tax dollars.
To be blunt, it’s also bad for our democracy.
Just think about it. These Economic Action Plan ads are not designed to simply inform Canadians about government programs; rather their clear aim is to win public approval for Conservative government policy.
In other words, they are thinly-veiled, taxpayer-financed, pro-Conservative propaganda.
And you don’t have to be a political science major to see why this is undemocratic.
For one thing, it’s undemocratic to force Canadians through their taxes to finance a political message they might not support.
Indeed, it’s an infringement on free speech.
Secondly, when an incumbent government has the power and the willingness to tap into the public treasury to pay for partisan ads, it possesses an overwhelming advantage over Opposition parties.
After all, neither the Liberals nor the NDP have anywhere near the resources needed to counter the millions and millions of tax dollars the Conservative government is currently spending to toot its own horn.
This is why, by the way, back when he was president of the National Citizens Coalition, Prime Minister Stephen Harper opposed this sort of partisan government advertising.
How’s that for irony?
At any rate, the question is what can we do to fix this situation?
Well, a few years ago the Ontario provincial government passed a law giving the auditor general the power to prohibit government advertisements whose primary objective is “to promote the partisan political interests of the governing party”.
A similar law on the federal level would be most welcome.
Yes, it might be bad for the billboard industry, but it would be good for democracy.
Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: GERRY NICHOLLS
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