ebd0d794   
   XPost: ab.general, van.general, tor.general   
   From: fred@nospam.com   
      
   Nothing here that the sleezy Liberals didn't do first.   
      
   For Iggy, it isn't about being heard, it is about managing the herd.   
      
   "Robert Peffers"  wrote in message   
   news:640aff3d-8fce-4a23-9de7-454150247341@a6g2000vbp.googlegroups.com...   
   Ignatieff wants to ban taxpayer-funded political ads   
      
   Sep 25, 2009 04:33 PM   
      
   Allan Woods   
   Ottawa Bureau   
      
   OTTAWA - The federal Liberals want to take a page out of the Ontario   
   government's playbook and ban taxpayer-funded political advertising,   
   Michael Ignatieff says.   
      
   A future Liberal government would create an independent body to screen   
   all government ads for overtly political content.   
      
   The move comes after revelations that the Conservative government   
   spent five times more money promoting its economic recovery plan than   
   on preparing Canadians for the swine flu pandemic.   
      
   The economy ads direct viewers to a government website that refer to   
   the "Harper government" - not the Government of Canada - which is a   
   breach of federal rules.   
      
   Ignatieff also referred to a report in the Star today illustrating how   
   he was airbrushed out of photos that showed him eating a pork sandwich   
   served by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz at an event to show support   
   for pork producers during the spring outbreak of the H1N1 virus.   
      
   "It's that kind of hyper-partisan approach to politics that Canadians   
   can't accept," he said.   
      
   In Ontario, provincial government ads are screened for partisanship   
   and there is a ban on the use of any politician's name, image or   
   voice.   
      
   "I'm willing, in the interest of democratic renewal here, to create an   
   independent advisory committee which will, if we're in government, say   
   'Here are the lines, brother, you can't cross them,' " Ignatieff said   
   at a news conference on Parliament Hill.   
      
   The committee would "make absolutely sure that the government of   
   Canada advertises for the government of Canada - not for the party in   
   power."   
      
   The Liberal proposal received an immediate endorsement from New   
   Democrat MP Pat Martin, who also wants the auditor general to examine   
   current government communications practices.   
      
   "I think public outrage is going to cause this to happen sooner rather   
   than later," Martin told The Canadian Press.   
      
   But the office of Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a rather cooler   
   reaction.   
      
   The Liberal plan, said PMO spokesman Andrew MacDougall, is ``premised   
   on the fact that there's something wrong with what we're doing" - a   
   premise the government emphatically rejects.   
      
   "I think the (current) process works," added MacDougall.   
      
   "There are guidelines in place. We've certainly respected all of   
   them."   
      
   The Prime Minister's spokesman could not immediately explain how   
   including dozens of pictures of Harper on the action plan website   
   assists Canadians in understanding where their tax dollars are being   
   spent.   
      
   "Pictures help show Canadians their government and their Prime   
   Minister are hard at work on the economy," MacDougall responded in a   
   follow-up email.   
      
   Partisanship in taxpayer-funded ads is a recurring issue in federal   
   politics, and one that previous versions of the Conservative party   
   railed against when in opposition.   
      
   The NDP's Martin said both Liberal and Conservative governments have   
   been "guilty as hell of abusing what should be a black-and-white   
   ethical issue."   
      
   Martin would also like to see MP mailing privileges - including those   
   ubiquitous, government-paid leaflets that have been clogging Canadian   
   mailboxes - put under the control of any new advertising review panel.   
      
   Opposition MPs have been complaining for more than a year that mass   
   mailouts by Conservative MPs have pushed the rules on the leaflets to   
   the breaking point. Some Liberal MPs have begun mailing out their own   
   deeply partisan attacks this way.   
      
   Ignatieff linked the government ad campaign to Liberal party   
   allegations that the Conservatives are disproportionately funnelling   
   stimulus dollars to Tory-held ridings - a claim publicly bolstered   
   this week by a Conservative candidate in Markham, Ont.   
      
   "It's the same pattern of hyper-partisanship that is making it   
   impossible to work with this government," said Ignatieff.   
      
   -with files from The Canadian Press   
      
   http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/700929   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)