Ontario’s auditor general turns up heat in showdown over partisan ads

Ontario’s auditor general fires another broadside against Wynne’s proposed changes to government advertising act

Thestar.com
May 12, 2015
By Rob Ferguson

A key government watchdog is escalating a showdown with Premier Kathleen Wynne over taxpayer-funded advertising.

Auditor general Bonnie Lysyk is threatening to blow the whistle on any ads she deems partisan if Wynne’s Liberals refuse to back down from plans to “gut” long-standing restrictions in the Government Advertising Act.

Lysyk said her office - best known for its hard-hitting annual report cards on government performance - would abide by watered-down criteria in the law when reviewing ads, but could publicly flag any it considers offside.

“It will be a matter for people to judge when ads start coming out that, perhaps, we would qualify and say we’ve approved it but we think there’s something wrong with the ad,” Lysyk said Tuesday after issuing a special report on her concerns.

Deputy premier Deb Matthews told reporters the government remains committed to its 2004 ban on the type of partisan ads that saw former Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris appearing on screen - but wants more “clarity” on the definition of partisan.

Under the law, an ad “is partisan if, in the opinion of the auditor general, a primary objective of the item is to promote the partisan political interests of the governing party.”

Matthews said “there’s a great deal of subjectivity” in that wording, which has allowed the auditor’s review panel to object to ads such as one for Foodland Ontario, which had too many red apples, strawberries and peppers. Red is the Liberals’ colour.

She also objected to changes forced by the auditor’s office in other ads, such as switching red bricks for brown in one spot, and objections to a radio ad promoting the HPV vaccine Gardasil during the 2007 election campaign.

Previous auditor Jim McCarter concluded that one would “foster a positive impression” of the governing Liberals at a sensitive time.

“We shouldn’t have the auditor second-guessing the professional medical advice of our chief medical officer of health over whether an HPV vaccine ad should run - we’ve gone too far when this happens,” Matthews said.

“In the application of the law, ads were being rejected for reasons that didn’t make a lot of sense.”

Some Liberals have said privately that the law - the only one of its kind in the country and passed after previous premier Dalton McGuinty defeated the Progressive Conservatives in a 2003 landslide - tied the government’s hands by going too far.

The new definition, included in the spring budget bill, would outlaw the name, voice or image of an MPP or cabinet member, the name or logo of a political party or party colours “to a significant degree.”

Lysyk called those criteria “a very narrow and limited definition of what constitutes partisan advertising” and a “fatal blow” to the law.

“I would no longer be able to consider factors such as political context, the use of self-congratulatory messages, factual accuracy or an advertisement’s criticisms of other political parties in my review.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath sided with the auditor, saying “it’s pretty shameful” the changes are buried in the massive budget bill and accused the Liberals of trying to pull a fast one on taxpayers and Lysyk’s office.

“This auditor general has been attacked by the Liberals twice now,” Horwath said, referring to what was perceived as a “sexist” shot at Lysyk by Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli after she took the government to task last year for its $1.9-billion smart meter program that cost double the original estimate.

Chiarelli disagreed with Lysyk, who spent 10 years in senior roles at Manitoba Hydro, saying “electricity is very complex, is very difficult to understand.” He later denied any sexist intent.

Newly elected Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown, who was to resign as the MP for Barrie on Wednesday, said the proposed changes are a “flip-flop” by the Liberals on the original intent of the law.

But Brown defended a steady stream of ads from the Harper government, of which he has been a member for nine years, on its economic action plan and prominently featuring the party’s blue colour.

“I don’t think those ads were overtly partisan,” Brown insisted.

Matthews said the changes were proposed because the government wanted to widen the auditor’s scope to review digital advertising - which the office has been calling for since 2011 - and public transit ads.

Lysyk has asked, if the changes are passed, that her office no longer be tasked with reviewing ads, a function she would rather see given to another agency over fears she would be seen as a “rubber stamp.”