The department of Public Works declined to release the number of federal ads flagged for breaching the ban on partisan promotions. .In a briefing note, the department stated the number is irrelevant..“How many times has the review process flagged ads that are partisan?” asked a note by staff attending hearings of the Commons Public Accounts committee. .“The number of times that issues were flagged by Ad Standards in the initial review does not provide any relevant information. When this has occurred, the issues were addressed in the final review.”.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Treasury Board in 2016 issued a Directive on the Management of Communications stating that all federal advertising should be “free from political party slogans, images, identifiers, bias, designation or affiliation,” including the use of a “primary colour associated with the governing party” or “any name, voice or image of a minister, MP or senator.”.“We want to make it absolutely clear from this day forward that government advertising using tax dollars is unacceptable,” then-Treasury Board president Scott Brison told reporters at the time..The board issued a mandate stating any federal marketing campaign with a budget exceeding $250,000 must undergo a thorough review by Advertising Standards Canada, a trade group, to ensure the absence of any partisan content..“The process is optional for advertising campaigns with budgets under the established threshold,” said the department briefing note..“What is the purpose of advertising within the Government of Canada?” asked the note. .“The government has an obligation to inform Canadians about policies, programs, services, rights and responsibilities as well as to alert them to environmental, public health and safety issues. Advertising is one of the means of communications used to achieve this and is an important way for the government to get timely information to Canadians.”.Federal advertising cost $140.8 million in 2021, the highest figure released. Only half the spending was related to pandemic safety measures. It compared to election-year spending of $50.1 million in 2019 and $42.2 million in 2015..“The COVID-19 pandemic remained a high priority,” the department of Public Works wrote in its Annual Report on Government of Canada Advertising Activities. .Of the $140.8 million in spending, about half, or $62 million, was “spent on COVID-19 related media placements.”.Currently, there is no specific Act of Parliament governing advertising regulations. .In 2013, the Liberal caucus introduced a private bill called C-544 An Act to Amend the Auditor General Act. The bill aimed to establish a federal commissioner responsible for reviewing all advertising and monitoring spending. The bill did not progress further in Parliament and was not adopted by the Liberal cabinet following its victory in the 2015 election.
