Freedom of Information request shows NDP dished out thousands of tax dollars to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)

• Manitoba NDP paid $15,000 for CCPA subscription in 2001
  
• BC NDP awarded $200,000 contract to CCPA and paid $105,000 for 3-year subscription

WINNIPEG: A Freedom of Information request by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation found that in 2001, Manitoba's NDP Government handed out over $15,000 of taxpayers' money to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). An additional $250 was given for an annual contribution and another $200 for a conference. In documentation obtained by the CTF through FOI, a piece of correspondence from the CCPA states that contributions are used towards "researching and publishing the alternative policies that refute the corporate agenda-" and the NDP's mantra "our society must change from one based on competition to one based on cooperation."

"Being on the same page ideologically does not justify why the NDP would spend this much money on a membership to an organization that promotes a tax and spend approach to public policy," stated Provincial Director Adrienne Batra, "what makes this $15,000 even less justifiable is that a bulk of the information the subscription paid for is available at no charge on the CCPA's website," added Batra.

It should be pointed out that it is not only the Manitoba NDP that played fast and loose with tax dollars, the former NDP Government in BC did something similar, but at a much higher cost. "Taxpayers in BC got taken to the cleaners with a $200,000 contract awarded to the CCPA and an additional $105,000 for a 3-year subscription," said Batra, "but regardless of who paid how much for what, taxpayers in both provinces got a raw deal."

The CTF is opposed to any special interest group that receives money from the government for the purposes of political maneuvering, "no one is questioning the existence of the CCPA, but is it necessary for taxpayers to pay for their funding " questioned Batra "If former PC Premier Gary Filmon had used $15,000 of taxpayers' money to buy a subscription to the Fraser Institute (for example), the NDP would have lit their hair on fire!" concluded Batra.