Ontario Liberals Skirt Election Spending Law

[M.Dancer]

TORONTO — The Conservatives claim the governing Liberals are violating Ontario's Election Act by having a third party buy television commercials to promote their re-election bid.

The pro-Liberal, anti-Tory TV spots paid for by the so-called Working Families Coalition are already being broadcast across the province.

The coalition, made up of various unions, was responsible for the “Not this time, Ernie” campaign that helped defeat the Conservatives under Ernie Eves in 2003.

Conservative party president Blair McCreadie says the coalition is little more than a front for the Liberals, and is run by people like Don Guy, Premier Dalton McGuinty's former chief of staff.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/National/home

I am never suprised by the ability of political parties to choose the wrong path and end up shooting themselves in the foot.

[jdobbin]

I am never suprised by the ability of political parties to choose the wrong path and end up shooting themselves in the foot.

The Tories might be barking up the wrong tree on this. The recent election in Manitoba had the Nurses Union running ads against the Tories in much the same way.

The PCs in Manitoba tried to link it to the NDP but in the end, couldn't.

I think the only way you could show that third party ads were Liberal or Conservative ads is if you could show some evidence of racketeering. That would entail showing they didn't bid against each other for billboard space or radio and TV time, that they had the exact same people working on both campaigns, that they coordinated their efforts.

It isn't enough to say a few people work with the other organization.

We'll see what happens. I don't know Ontario election rules. I just know what happened in Manitoba.

I think if if I was an Ontario resident, I'd be more worried that the Liberals there are spending like drunken sailors.

[john farson]

As long as the Liberal Party is not paying for the ads then I don't see a problem with it (and I'm not voting Liberal, either).

[M.Dancer]

As long as the Liberal Party is not paying for the ads then I don't see a problem with it (and I'm not voting Liberal, either).

With reasoning like that, the NDP could outspend everyone just by having their deep pocket union buddies parrot their platform.

....The problem becomes evident when liberal members start working on these campaigns, it erases all doubt that these are truly 3rd party organizations.

[Evan]

I just blogged on this issue. I figured I'd post it here in hopes of having more readers..

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If you've been watching the Working Families Coalition ads on TV, you may notice how they are attack ads which appear to be supporting the Liberal Party. It seems to be a nice hand-in-hand setup. The Liberals run ads saying how good they are, and Working Families "an independent organization" runs the attack ads.

Now, I'd almost be willing to give it a bit of merit. And say PERHAPS it's true that they are unassociated. But there's one ad which haunts my perspective of the situation.

The Working Families Coalition runs an ad talking about how the Conservative Party tried to sell our hospitals into privatization. And how the current administration has stopped them and improved health care all around.

While the WFC claims to be educating people on the truths, why does it not mention that the 'current administration' followed through and arranged that the Royal Ottawa Hospital become a P3 hospital; and how it's holding millions of dollars in the bank while it tries to create another opportunity to generate privatization in our Health Care system.

If Working Families, was truly non-partisan than wouldn't they be 'unraveling the spin' and 'showing the truth' as they claim to be? Instead they're creating their own spin which seems to fit all too well into the Liberal Party's war plan to be coincidence.

Perhaps we could also look at the website. http://www.workingfamilies.ca When you go there, you're greeted by a nice man who invites you to sign up, and get involved in the discussion. So I tried to. I wanted to discuss the fact that their ad's were lying to the people of Ontario. But what do you know, there's no real discussion happening on their site. Well then, perhaps they're having public meetings. No, that doesn't seem to be happening either.

Funny, they invite me to be involved in the discussion, but there is no real discussion going on. Must be happening in a back room somewhere. Well, there goes the idea of working people actually having any say over what's happening in the Working Families Coalition.

This organization is a farce, and I highly suggest that you take their television spots with a large spoonful of salt.

[geoffrey]

The Tories might be barking up the wrong tree on this. The recent election in Manitoba had the Nurses Union running ads against the Tories in much the same way.

The PCs in Manitoba tried to link it to the NDP but in the end, couldn't.

So nurses and what not can run anti-Tory ads but National Citizens Coalition and the Fraser Institute cannot run anti-Liberal ads.

The equity of the Gag law is beautiful isn't it? Get a bunch of Liberal judges to uphold it and you won't have any balance anymore. It's how to get elected on a paltry sum of donations.

[Shakeyhands]

I believe your Federal CPC party is accused of something very similar on a larger scale are they not?

[jdobbin]

So nurses and what not can run anti-Tory ads but National Citizens Coalition and the Fraser Institute cannot run anti-Liberal ads.

The equity of the Gag law is beautiful isn't it? Get a bunch of Liberal judges to uphold it and you won't have any balance anymore. It's how to get elected on a paltry sum of donations.

Did the nurses run ads federally last election? I didn't think they could.

And why the repeated attacks on the police and judges?

[geoffrey]

And why the repeated attacks on the police and judges?

Attacks? Nah. Just holding people to account for their quick choice towards infringing on other's freedom. I have a profound respect for judges, not because of the institution but because of the difficulty of their job. But that's not going to stop me from criticising decisions that are far more rooted in politics than in rational thought or protection of liberties. Police? Shouldn't be trusted, at all, ever. They have 100% the authority to destroy you overnight. They should be criticized and hounded for every little misstep they take when they have such enourmous power without any personal responsibility for how they wield it.

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As for the ads, it's my understanding that the gag law applied to all 3rd party advertising during elections.