robert_viera Posted November 26, 2009 Report Share Posted November 26, 2009 (edited) In addition to being able to send out newsletters and flyers at the taxpayers' expense, MPs are allowed to spend up to 10% of their office budgets on advertising. Here is a description of the entitlement from the 2008-2009 report on MPs expenditures: (3) ADVERTISING ─ allows Members to communicate with their constituents about their office location and contact information, assistance and services they provide and meeting announcements related to the discharge of their constituency functions, and to issue congratulatory messages or greetings to constituents and opinions or statements in support of their parliamentary functions. The Advertising Expenses Account is limited to 10% of the Member’s Office Budget. Here is a sample of the kind of ads my local MP, Patrick Brown, has run in the local daily newspaper, the Barrie Examiner: http://static.zooomr.com/images/8586263_34ce9614be_b.jpg This ad ran at the bottom of the front page in the November 30, 2007 issue and spanned the full width of the page. You'll notice in the lower left corner that there is a Conservative Party logo: http://static.zooomr.com/images/8586267_8e7cc4fa13_m.jpg I went back and checked old issues of the paper and found that Mr. Brown had run advertisements like this one 47 times between July 25, 2006 and September 6, 2008. 45 of the ads appeared on the front page, 2 appeared on the second page, and all included the Conservative Party logo in the lower left. In addition, Mr. Brown ran 2 full page ads, one in January 2007 and one in September 2008 which incorporated the Conservative Party logo in a similar fashion. Prior to July 25, 2006, Mr. Brown ran ads of the same size and in the same position on 7 occasions, but those ads did not include the Conservative Party logo. It is my belief that these ads were likely paid for out of Mr. Brown's office budget. In February of 2008, Mr. Brown did run a couple of ads which carried the line "Paid for by the Barrie Conservative Electoral District Association", but the ads were different in design, with larger Conservative Party logos and included the address of the party's web site. The Barrie Conservative EDA's 2007 financial statement, which can be viewed on the web site of Elections Canada, lists advertising expenses of $0.00. Should MPs be allowed to use their office budgets to put their party's logo on the front page of the local newspaper? Edited November 26, 2009 by robert_viera Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_viera Posted November 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 Here are the top 40 spenders on advertising for 2008-2009: Yvon Lévesque Bloc 34305 Roger Gaudet Bloc 30812 Meili Faille Bloc 30616 Guy André Bloc 30585 Jim Flaherty Conservative 30496 Robert Bouchard Bloc 30492 Steven Blaney Conservative 30400 Jean-Yves Laforest Bloc 30393 Denis Lebel Conservative 30092 Claude DeBellefeuille Bloc 29989 Pierre Paquette Bloc 29983 André Bellavance Bloc 29923 Raymonde Folco Liberal 29685 Sylvie Boucher Conservative 29492 John Baird Conservative 29477 France Bonsant Bloc 29427 Mario Laframboise Bloc 29258 Christian Ouellet Bloc 29233 Josée Verner Conservative 29229 Louis Plamondon Bloc 29146 Michel Guimond Bloc 29140 Patrick Brown Conservative 29123 Jacques Gourde Conservative 29121 Réal Ménard Bloc 29099 Jean-Yves Roy Bloc 29093 Richard Nadeau Bloc 29069 Maria Mourani Bloc 28896 Robert Vincent Bloc 28860 Monique Guay Bloc 28837 Massimo Pacetti Liberal 28826 Rob Clarke Conservative 28803 Yvon Godin NDP 28793 Christian Paradis Conservative 28691 Johanne Deschamps Bloc 28495 Luc Malo Bloc 28457 Diane Bourgeois Bloc 28326 Carole Lavallée Bloc 28271 Stockwell Day Conservative 28255 Roger Valley Liberal 28042 Ted Menzies Conservative 27761 Source: http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/GeneraLInformation/MembersExpenses-2008-2009-e.pdf As you can see, the top 40 is dominated by Bloc MPs (24), and to a lesser degree Conservative MPs (12), with only a few Liberals (although one Liberal, Roger Valley, made the top 40 despite only serving for half of the fiscal year), and one NDP MP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_viera Posted November 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 5 of the above mentioned 47 advertisements featuring the Conservative logo were to announce a BBQ the MP held in 2007. Here is a photo which appeared on the editorial page of the newspaper: http://www.zooomr.com/photos/robertviera/8594227/ The photo is of the MP at the BBQ event standing next to one of his Conservative campaign signs. This photo raises another issue. Should MPs be allowed to use taxpayer-funded advertising to promote partisan events? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oleg Bach Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Give all the cry babies logos - maybe even grant them all a coat of arms..a great herald over their bed ...with their name on it...how can it hurt giving a child a gold star once in a while - just make sure that it's not made from real gold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oleg Bach Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Give every member of Parliment a crown and a purple robe... In fact we should stop refereing to them in the legalist slang as "my friend" - They have no friends--- once you run for public office - all friendship and loyality is left at the door - but you do get a title though....lets call them KINGS and QUEENS..They function like a chess board with no pawns other than us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Boy© Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Here are the top 40 spenders on advertising for 2008-2009: Source: http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/GeneraLInformation/MembersExpenses-2008-2009-e.pdf As you can see, the top 40 is dominated by Bloc MPs (24), and to a lesser degree Conservative MPs (12), with only a few Liberals (although one Liberal, Roger Valley, made the top 40 despite only serving for half of the fiscal year), and one NDP MP. I am speechless that my Liberal MP isn't on that list, if he didn't make it those folks are serious offenders. In response to the question, my opinion is a very big NO. I was collecting them from the junk mail box beside my mail box for a while. Sent them all back, the Liberals got a note asking them to recycle and be 'green', couldn't think of a good line for the Torys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_viera Posted November 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 I am speechless that my Liberal MP isn't on that list, if he didn't make it those folks are serious offenders. In response to the question, my opinion is a very big NO. I was collecting them from the junk mail box beside my mail box for a while. Sent them all back, the Liberals got a note asking them to recycle and be 'green', couldn't think of a good line for the Torys. Those aren't the expenses for MP mailings. The mailings come under the heading 'Printing', not 'Advertising'. Incidentally, who is your MP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Boy© Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Those aren't the expenses for MP mailings. The mailings come under the heading 'Printing', not 'Advertising'. Incidentally, who is your MP? I'd prefer not to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_viera Posted November 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 I'd prefer not to say. OK. The only Liberal MP in the top 40 spenders on printing is Sukh Dhaliwal (#40). The next after him is Raymonde Folco (#75). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oleg Bach Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 I am speechless that my Liberal MP isn't on that list, if he didn't make it those folks are serious offenders. In response to the question, my opinion is a very big NO. I was collecting them from the junk mail box beside my mail box for a while. Sent them all back, the Liberals got a note asking them to recycle and be 'green', couldn't think of a good line for the Torys. I just want to know who's printing those huge telephone books that we all toss in the garbage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Boy© Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 I just want to know who's printing those huge telephone books that we all toss in the garbage? Yeah that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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