Dear Mr. Strelioff:

Congratulations on your recent appointment as Auditor General of British Columbia. If past and present B.C. governments over the last several decades are any guide, you will undoubtedly have much to work with during your time in office.

I write to you concerning the recent action by Premier Ujjal Dosanjh to post what is clearly partisan material on a taxpayer-funded government website - the Premier's "home page."

In a 1995-96 survey from the office of the Auditor General (Report 5), Public Communications: Distinguishing Between Government Program and Partisan Political Communications, the report clearly stated that "taxpayers of British Columbia should not have to pay for communications that are of a partisan political nature."

In the report's conclusions, the Auditor General stated that the content of public communications should be "impartial," and that "political parties and their members should not have their views, policies or actions criticized in public government communications. "

The material in question, posted on a publicly-funded website, seems to offend the criteria set out by your office and I would ask for an investigation to take place. In addition, the Premier himself seems to have misled the public with his comments on a number of occasions.

For example, in his introduction to the plan, he states "officials who prepared this document included Mr. [Gordon] Campbell's positions on current issues to see where we could work together." A brief review of the document clearly reveals this is false, and that the document in question is partisan and a pre-election strategy document, not a government "plan." As such it belongs on a political party website not on a taxpayer-funded website of the government of British Columbia.

For example, the document includes references to "branding," to exploiting "wedge" potential with the leader of the opposition, to rebuilding "our coalition," and to "contrasts" with Campbell. This is clearly the language of partisan politics - not neutral government analysis.

To add insult to taxpayer injury, the "plan" also reveals a clear intent to spend public money for partisan purposes - something your office has also repeatedly criticized in the past. The document in question makes several references to a "marketing campaign" and to "print advertising."

Despite this obvious attempt to use taxpayer money to attack another political party, Premier Dosanjh claimed in a recent Vancouver Sun article of September 23, that "it is a government document, it is not a party document. In that sense it is not a partisan document." The premier also claimed, in justification for posting the document to the taxpayer-funded website, that "- we want to make sure that people do know what it is fact we're trying to do, what distinguishes this government from the B.C. Liberals."

It is my understanding that political parties - who already receive tax deductible status to get their message out to the public - and their websites, are the proper vehicles to "distinguish" their ideas, policies, and platforms from each other, not the Premier's taxpayer-funded home page.

Mr. Strelioff, the taxpayers of British Columbia need protection from a flagrant violation and misuse of their tax dollars, whether it be an opposition party who sends out partisan mailers at taxpayer expense, or a governing party that flaunts past guidelines on government communications given to them by your office.

I have no doubt the Premier knows full well he is in breach of the guidelines but has chosen to ignore them. I ask you to investigate the matter fully for the taxpayers of British Columbia.

Sincerely,

Mark Milke
Canadian Taxpayers Federation,
British Columbia Division