This is pretty pathetic.
Conservative TV spots; financed using taxpayer dollars; feature anti-election pitch
Bruce Cheadle
Ottawa— The Canadian Press
The Conservative government is spending more than five times as many taxpayer dollars on promoting its economic plan as it is on raising public awareness about the flu pandemic.
And that's once again raising a long-standing question: when does government advertising cross the line into partisan boosterism?
Television viewers may have noticed the latest feel-good government ads about stimulus spending, including the Conservative-friendly, anti-election pitch: "We can't stop now," and "We have to stay on track."
All the ads direct viewers to a Tory-blue government website that includes more than 40 different photos of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and refers repeatedly to "the Harper government" — apparently in direct contravention of Treasury Board communications policy.
The TV spots are just the latest $4-million salvo in a $34-million media blitz trumpeting the Conservative's recession-fighting budget.
Meanwhile, with public health officials fretting over an onrushing fall flu season, the spread of the H1N1 virus and widespread public apathy about the need for vaccination, no television ads are in the works to combat swine flu.
Health Canada's home webpage, however, does include a prominent link to the Conservative economic action plan website .
The Public Health Agency of Canada says it has a total marketing budget of $6.5-million to inform Canadians about the H1N1 virus and how to avoid infection.
James Morton
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