VICTORIA: The BC division of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today released a Freedom of Information request on government advertising since 1991. The information shows that ad spending regularly spiked before elections and dropped noticeably afterwards.

The original FOI request asked for information dating back two decades. The government only provided information since 1991. It reveals that ad spending, as low as $2.63 million in fiscal year 1992, hit a high of $10.8 million in 1999 (due in part to advertising on the Nisga'a treaty,) dropped to $5.9 million in 2000, and is expected to climb to $9.8 million this fiscal year - a $3.9 million increase over last year.

The Federation noted that the numbers provided by government include only advertising budgets for ministries, and do not include the cost of publications or pamphlets produced by ministries, or advertising and publications produced by Crown corporations. According to the annual budget Estimates, for just 2001 and just for ministries, total ministry advertising and publication costs alone are budgeted at over $25 million - only $ 5.4 million of it required by statute.

"Governments of every political stripe use taxpayer money for partisan purposes and for feel-good ads," said CTF-BC director Mark Milke. "To help government cut its appetite for taxpayer-funded ads, the Federation has drafted the Government Advertising Standards Act. All the government and opposition need do is steal this draft piece of legislation and pass it into law."

Milke noted that the legislation, if passed, would empower an ethics commissioner to review government advertising deemed wasteful or partisan by a MLA.

In 1997, speaking about the provincial gag law on citizen advertising, Ujjal Dosanjh noted that "we don't want to be held hostage to large amounts of money, whether public or private, in terms of any campaign." Milke called on the Premier to "free the hostages - taxpayers - from having to fund ads that are completely unnecessary."


Ministry spending in $ millions
1991 -- 5.79
1992 -- 2.63
1993 -- 2.73
1994 -- 3.96
1995 -- 7.73
1996 -- 9.44
1997 -- 5.26
1998 -- 9.20
1999 -- 10.8
2000 -- 5.91
2001 -- 9.8* (Estimated)