A Saskatchewan taxpayer recently wrote to the CTF and expressed frustration that a number of MLAs had used their taxpayer funded expense accounts to purchase ads in The Commonwealth - the NDP's partisan publication.

We agree with the frustrated taxpayer - MLAs should not be allowed to use tax dollars to purchase ads in publications operated by political parties. After all, how is it any different from a direct subsidy?

The taxpayer went through a bunch of MLA expense reports online (click here to see them) and tallied up over $9,000 in advertising expenses in the Commonwealth over the past two years. Clearly, it's not a ton of money, but like they say - every dollar adds up.

Last year the CTF was successful in convincing the Legislative Assembly to post their expense reports online. We have now asked the Legislative Assembly to discontinue the practice of allowing MLAs to purchase ads in all partisan publications (below is the email to the Speaker's office). 

A special thanks goes out to the taxpayer who crunched the numbers and brought the matter to our attention!

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Dear Mr. Toth,

I am writing to you today in your capacity as Chair of the Board of Internal Economy.

Recently, a Saskatchewan taxpayer wrote to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) and expressed frustration that tax dollars had been used by some MLAs to purchase advertisements in the The Commonwealth - a partisan publication. I am not sure if other partisan publications have received public funds or not.

We agree with the frustrated taxpayer that public funds should not be used for ads in political parties' publications.

The CTF is pleased that MLAs supported the publication of their expenses online; that was a great step towards improving accountability.

In order to improve accountability even further, we are now asking the Board of Internal Economy to discontinue allowing MLAs to use tax dollars to purchase ads in their own party's publications.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to receiving your response.

Sincerely,

Colin Craig
Prairie Director - Canadian Taxpayers Federation