Enough with ’10-percenter’ attack ads. Or ’10-percenters,’ period

There was a glimmer of good news this week. Several Conservative MPs politely declined to send out mass mailings to their constituents, slamming Justin Trudeau. These mailings were designed by the Conservative party’s partisan war room, but would be distributed at taxpayer expense using as a so-called “10-percenter.”

You may recall the term “10-percenter” from bitter political fights several years ago, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government was still a minority, facing off against the Liberals, led by Michael Ignatieff, and the NDP, led by Jack Layton. The opposition had become angry that the Tories were exploiting 10-percenters — which allow MPs to mail packages equal in number to 10% of the households in their ridings, theoretically to share important local news with the public — for partisan ends. The Tories were carefully co-ordinating their mailings, and MPs in safe Conservative seats were sending their 10% worth’s of mail to households in other ridings. And all on the taxpayer’s dime — 10-percenters are considered part of every MPs legitimate office budget. The bill, an estimated $10-million a year, wasn’t huge. But it was more than the taxpayers ought to have been paying to advance the partisan political goals of any party.

Many Canadians felt that such advertisements had been banned. In 2010, the Liberals passed a motion (with support from the other opposition parties) that called for an end to out-of-riding 10-percenters. Tory MPs in Atlantic Canada would no longer be able to send flyers trashing the Liberals to Yukon. This was hailed as a ban on the use of 10-percenters, but that wasn’t quite the case. Every MP in the country can still send them out, several times a year, to up to 10% of the households within their own riding.

But now, some MPs are saying no. Good for them.

Even if a partisan 10-percenter is only being sent to an MP’s own constituents, in accordance with the new rules, it is still a partisan flyer being sent for explicitly political purposes that we’re all paying for. We expect political parties to raise funds to buy advertising time on radio and television stations, and to run their own websites. Why do we give them a free pass to attack their opponents on our tab when the medium is a piece of paper rather than 30 seconds of air time on a classic rock station? The use of such mailings may be legal, and it may even be fully in accordance with Parliament’s regulations for such mailings. But it’s still wrong.

A handful of Tory MPs have taken a stand, and have declared that they won’t be sending out the attack pamphlets targeting Mr. Trudeau to their constituents. They should be commended. And it should also be pointed out that, despite some characterizations to the contrary by the opposition and the media, abuse of 10-percenters is not confined to the Conservative party. There is plenty of blame here to go around.

But there is also a broader issue that needs to be discussed. A few rogue MPs refusing to carry out their party’s will is laudable in each individual case, but provides no solution to the problem. Clearly, the temptation to abuse a tool designed to allow MPs to communicate with the public is too much for politicians of all stripes to resist. And it’s equally clear that Parliament’s attempt to rectify this issue in 2010 has not been successful. A more direct solution is therefore required: Ten-percenters should be ended. Not limited or controlled, but killed with fire.

Ten-percenters aren’t inherently flawed. It is entirely possible for a responsible MP to use them for their original intended purpose and simply communicate with his constituents. But even that defensible use is no longer justified. Mass mailings are dismissed as junk mail for a reason — the majority of recipients take it directly from their mail box to the trash. Even if used for legitimate purposes, 10-percenters are wasteful. The same information can be communicated to constituents through emails or posting the information on webpage for the riding.

It’s true that not every Canadian has an Internet connection, or would think to check online. But the current system doesn’t reach every Canadian, either. Indeed, it only reaches 10% of them at a time. Since 10-percenters are so often abused, and can easily be replaced in their legitimate, intended role, the government should begin the process of eliminating them immediately.

Yes, it will cut into their efforts to demonize Justin Trudeau. But it’s the right thing to do.

Original Article
Source: fullcomment.nationalpost.com
Author: Matt Gurney