As of June 30th, in the lead up to the next federal election, the federal government has not allowed any government advertising to Canadians. But that didn t stop the Trudeau Liberal government from spending $17.7 million in the first quarter of 2019-2020.
00:00:00.000As of June 30th, in the lead up to the next federal election, the federal government has not allowed to put forward any government advertising to Canadians.
00:00:12.000Though that didn't stop the Trudeau Liberal government from spending $17.7 million in the first quarter of 2019-2020,
00:00:21.000basically the period immediately preceding that June 30th cutoff.
00:00:26.000Now, these numbers come from the National Post, which did a dive into how much the federal government is spending on advertising things like programs, tax credits, the budget,
00:00:36.000all of these things that governments can advertise and spend money on that aren't expressly partisan.
00:00:42.000The problem with it is that the government is promoting its agenda.
00:00:46.000The government's promoting its own record, and the government is spending millions and millions of dollars in an election year
00:00:52.000to tell Canadians all the things that it's doing for them.
00:00:56.000Now, it's not a Liberal problem exclusively, and when asked about it, the Treasury Board's answer was,
00:01:02.000well, Harper did it too. This is what they basically said.
00:01:05.000Well, we're still two-thirds below what Stephen Harper's government was spending in the lead up to the 2015 election.
00:01:12.000That may be so, but that doesn't make it right.
00:01:15.000And remember, Justin Trudeau is the one who promised a different type of politics.
00:01:19.000I think we should do away with government advertising altogether,
00:01:22.000because it is only self-serving and ultimately serving a political purpose,
00:01:28.000even though it's supposed to be doing the opposite.
00:01:30.000Now, there are areas where government may need to get a message out,
00:01:33.000but the Harper-era advertising the Economic Action Plan was self-serving,
00:01:38.000just as it's self-serving when the Liberals talk about the carbon tax rebate that they're promoting,
00:01:43.000because they're doing it to tell Canadians they're putting money in their pockets.
00:01:48.000And in fact, Treasury Board President Joyce Murray's spokesperson said,
00:01:52.000it's different when we do it than when they do it, referring to the Conservatives.