VICTORIA – New Democrat Leader Adrian Dix has introduced a private member’s bill that will end the practice of governments using taxpayer dollars to fund partisan ads and ensure all government advertising is reviewed and approved by the Auditor General.
“The B.C. Liberals should end the outrageous waste of at least $16.6 million in jobs plan advertising and join New Democrats in passing the Government Advertising Act now,” said Dix. “The jobs plan ads, as well as the multi-million dollar HST stickman campaign, would be illegal under this legislation and would need to be paid for by the Liberal party.
“No government should be allowed to use public dollars to further their partisan interests. If the Liberals will not join us in passing legislation now, we will pass it in the first legislative session following the election, if we are successful in forming government.”
Under the Government Advertising Act, the Auditor General will review all government advertising—television, radio, print, online, indoor and outdoor—against clear criteria designed to protect the public interest against the narrow political interests of the governing party. If the advertising fails to meet the criteria, it will not be allowed to run.
In addition, no non-essential government advertising will be allowed in the four months prior to the fixed election date.
“The jobs plan ads are a blatant case of misplaced priorities, taking scarce tax dollars from other priorities,” said Dix. “For example, $16.6 million could provide about 275 additional much-needed special education teachers or ensure a third more seedlings are planted on Crown lands, improving the health of our forests.”
The bill is a stronger version of an Ontario law and if passed would make B.C. the second province to restrict the purposes to which government advertising can be put.