Congratulations to Ontario Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty who recently committed to ending political advertising by law if his party is elected government in Ontario.

"Taxpayers' wallets should be off-limits to politicians bent on spending public money for blatantly partisan ads," says McGunity. That sentiment should resonate with equal ferocity in British Columbia where millions in election-type advertising have been blown on Nisga'a promotion, tax cuts [sic], Jobs and Timber Accord, Guarantee For Youth, reduction in waiting lists, no-fault insurance - you get the picture (and pay for it too!).

Under McGuinty's proposed legislation government advertising would be limited to "information in the public interest". Governments would be banned from using the premier's name or image in any advertising as well as the name or image of cabinet ministers and provincial legislators. In addition, all government advertising would display the total cost of the campaign and include the words "paid for by the taxpayers of Ontario".

Ontario's Integrity Commission (equivalent to B.C.'s Conflict of Interest Commissioner) would be granted power to judge whether ads are acceptable and to enforce the law. The governing political party would be responsible for reimbursing taxpayers for the cost of ads deemed unacceptable.

I might go one step further and include the opposition in that calculation. British Columbians will remember the

Liberal Opposition's disastrous province-wide mailing back in January 1997 that

cost taxpayers $800,000. Despite the Auditor General ruling that the mailing fell "outside mailing guidelines" (read: it was a bunch of partisan drivel) the BC Liberal Party has yet to reimburse the public treasury. Expanding Mr. Guinty's proposal would mean they too would be forced by law to pay.

And herein lies Mr. McGuinty's challenge. It is much easier to make pronouncements in opposition. In fact, prior to the last Ontario election Mike Harris was quoted as saying, "the taxpayers of this province are sick and tired of paying for NDP propaganda." But what Mr. Harris - they're quite happy to pay for Tory propaganda Give me a break. Ditto in British Columbia where the New Democrats set their hair on fire every time the Socreds engaged in another 'taxpayer-funded propaganda campaign'.

On balance, Mr. McGuinty should be congratulated. His proposal is both timely and specific. Timely in that taxpayers in Ontario and across the country are 'sick and tired of paying' -- whoops, sorry Premier Harris. And specific in that this may be the first time in Canada a framework has been laid out to curb political advertising corruption by law. If elected, Mr. McGuinty says he will implement it within the first 100 days of office. Gordon Campbell would do well to follow suit.

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Gordon Wilson may have set his political fortunes back by agreeing to sit as a cabinet Minster in the Clark government, but he has not set his wallet back. In addition to all the trappings of cabinet life, Mr. Wilson's salary jumps from $69,900 to $108,900. His pension benefits under the old gold-plated arrangement however, were frozen as at the date of the May 1996 election and will not change as a result of this promotion. Or should I say as a result of this demotion

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Another proud moment in the fiscal management of British Columbia this past week. Standard and Poors credit rating agency has moved British Columbia's outlook from stable to negative. This follows on the heels of a credit downgrade of the province by Canadian Bond Rating Service last September. Mushrooming debt hand in hand with credit downgrades adds fuel to burgeoning interest payments which squeeze not only taxpayers, but the very government programs the NDP tells us they are "protecting".