Tory budget promo ads break election rules: NDP

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This article was published 17/05/2022 (1232 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Progressive Conservative government ads touting its 2022 budget violate communication blackout rules, the NDP claims.

The Opposition has sent a complaint to Manitoba elections commissioner Bill Bowles questioning the legality of the multimedia advertising campaign while the Thompson district byelection is underway.

The Election Financing Act details restrictions in place to ensure government resources are not used to support an election campaign and outlines exceptions to the rule that allow for the continuation of government business.

Exceptions for advertising that deals with matters before the Manitoba Legislative Assembly are allowed, but the province’s $250,000 ad campaign “designed to persuade Manitobans about the importance of the government’s budget should not qualify for this exception,” the May 17 letter to Bowles from NDP party secretary Tim Johnson says.

“The intent of this provision was to not allow a partisan government to use taxpayer resources to improperly influence the views of Manitobans during an election period.”

The Thompson byelection was called May 10; local voters go to the polls June 7.

In question period Tuesday, the Opposition asked the government to pull the ads.

“Hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars are being spent to promote this government’s partisan agenda in the midst of a byelection,” said MLA Malaya Marcelino. “Will the minister stop undermining democracy and remove these ads today?”

Scott Fielding, minister of natural resources and northern development, countered the government is simply getting the word out about programs — such as the education property tax rebate — that benefit Manitobans.

“The only thing we’re doing is making sure Manitobans are aware of the support that they have,” he told the house. “That’s something we’re promoting. That’s something that’s there that we need to make sure all Manitobans know about.”

The NDP letter of complaint asked the elections commissioner to investigate the matter as soon as possible.

“Taxpayer-funded advertising during elections was banned to level the playing field during elections and to ensure that a governing political party cannot use the resources of government to tip the scales of our democracy,” it says.

A provincial government spokesperson on Wednesday said budget advertising is exempt from the election communication blackout rules under the Election Financing Act. In an email, the spokesperson said even if it wasn’t considered budget advertising, it was the continuation of earlier advertising with the same ads, which are part of “usual operations” and also exempt from the byelection blackout.

It’s the second time in a week the PCs have been in the news regarding the Election Financing Act.

Last week, the Free Press reported Manitoba’s elections commissioner formally cautioned Premier Heather Stefanson, after she admitted she had claimed $1,800 in expenses before the campaign for the Tory party leadership had officially begun Aug. 23

The Tuxedo MLA didn’t mean to break the rules and apologized for her error, Bowles said in a May 12 letter to the premier.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca