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If everyone knows that using taxpayer money to promote politicians or political parties is wrong, why do so many politicians continue to do it? Why do they continue to make excuses for why their own particular ads are “informing the public,” when they would denounce the same ads themselves if they were in opposition?

Some government ads are justified and innocent (think flu vaccination ads), while some flirt pretty close with being partisan (think federal Economic Action Plan signs). Still others are so clearly partisan that only the spin-doctors writing the talking points believe they are innocently “informing the public.”

The province’s “Building Alberta” campaign falls in this latter category.

The “Building Alberta” signs that liter our roadsides are just off-season election signs. They use the same blue and orange that Alberta Progressive Conservative Association uses on their election signs. They have “the Honorable Alison Redford, Premier” emblazoned across many of them, as if we should thank the premier for her generosity. And they do not inform drivers about road closures or openings, but merely state what the project underway is about, vaguely.  

Partisan advertising with tax dollars isn’t just wrong, but we now know that it’s expensive as well.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) recently obtained documents through Freedom of Information that show that in 2013, the average “Building Alberta” sign cost taxpayers $3,560 a piece, with some reaching up to $8,000. One has to wonder who the government contracted to build and place these signs with a sticker slapped on some backboard, held up by 2x4s.

The government has been working overtime to get as many of these signs out as possible. In fact, the total spending on these signs has increased by 3,027 per cent over 2011, and 377 per cent over 2012. In 2013, the government spent $1.04 million of taxpayers’ cash on these signs, not including the rest of the huge “Building Alberta” PR campaign.

It’s not without irony that the government is burning over a million bucks a year on partisan road signs while it drives us off the debt cliff with $17 billion in borrowing.

Commendably, the opposition parties have condemned the government for the practice and even demanded that the PC Party repay taxpayers. It’s the right thing to do, but we shouldn’t hold our collective breath.

But opposition parties have a reputation for opposing governments. They should prove themselves above the temptation themselves (should they form government) and support legislation banning the practice.

The CTF is proposing a simple bill to require that all government advertising be approved by the Auditor General in order to ensure that they are scourged of partisan content. Ontario has a similar law on the books already. 

This is an opportunity for the government to do the right thing and put this behind them, and for the opposition to show that they would not use this tool for themselves if they ever had the chance. 

Similar handcuffs on partisan advertising with tax dollars are also necessary for the federal government, which spent millions on TV commercials to boast about its record during big sporting events. Federal Liberal MP David McGuinty has introduced a private members bill to this effect. 

And parties don’t need the money; they are already heavily subsidized by taxpayers in the form of generous tax receipts. If parties want to advertise, they can pay for it out of their own coffers.