TORONTO, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is calling on the province to immediately stop plans to limit the Auditor General’s oversight of government advertising, allowing for taxpayer funded partisan ads.

The budget outlines plans to amend the Government Advertising Act, 2004, to amend what “partisan” means. The amendments would effectively remove the Auditor General’s discretion to determine whether a taxpayer-funded government advertisement crosses the line from informative to partisan.

“Without the Auditor General’s oversight, we know that the Ontario government will be tempted to torque ads for partisan gain at the taxpayer’s expense,” said CTF Ontario Director Christine Van Geyn. “Considering the $30 million that Ontario spends on government advertising each year, taxpayers must have some assurance that their hard earned money is not being spent for partisan gain by the governing party of the day.”

Since the Act became law, the Auditor General has reviewed over 7,200 advertisements, and rejected less than 1 per cent as partisan or failing to meet the standards of the Act.

According to the Auditor General, the ads her office rejected included images of the Premier, were timed to coincide with provincial by-elections, or made claims that the manufacturing sector in Ontario is “booming,” which the Auditor General stated “isn’t factual.” The government, in turn, has stated that they are amending the law because the Auditor General nixed ads for use of the colour red. The Auditor General has said this never happened.

“Kathleen Wynne’s move to end the Auditor General’s discretionary oversight of government advertising is a cynical political move designed to allow her government to engage in self-promotion on the taxpayer dime,” said CTF Ontario Director Christine Van Geyn. “With a government that will spend $11.4 billion in debt interest alone next year, the Auditor General needs every tool she has to ensure the taxpayers aren’t being hosed with inappropriate government spending.”