NDP REALITY CHECK: Liberal hypocrisy on partisan government advertising

Despite the fact the last federal Liberal government actually misspent $2 million more – in a year less time – than the Harper Conservatives on controversial government advertising, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have been hypocritically feigning outrage all week about government advertising.

This hypocrisy becomes apparent when we look at what federal Liberals are saying about the Ontario Liberals – and compare that to the truth.

“The Government of Ontario is a good example of a government that created an independent authority for ensuring that all government ads are not partisan and that they offer good value to taxpayers. This is an example of a government whose approach works well.” – Scott Brison, House of Commons, April 27, 2015

But the Auditor General of Ontario tells a different story:

“These proposed changes would allow the government to spend public dollars on partisan advertising with little of the current independent oversight. […] The government could flood the province with self-congratulatory and self-promotional advertising that would be of little practical use to the citizens paying for it.”” – Bonnie Lysyk, Auditor General of Ontario, April 29, 2015

Despite the fact the Ontario Liberals are gutting rules against partisan government advertising, Trudeau’s Liberals – including his top advisor and former principal secretary to the Ontario premier Gerald Butts – have failed to criticize their provincial cousins for acting just like the Harper Conservatives.

It turns out Trudeau’s Liberals aren’t against partisan government ads, they are only against partisan ads run by the Harper Conservatives.

Canadians deserve better.