Back in May, the Harper government announced that it would be launching a series of national ads to promote the budget.What they didn't tell you was that those ads would run non-stop until the next election campaign, and that six months later would have run up a tab of between 100 and 150 million taxpayer dollars.
The intent of the ads was to promote the Conservative Party of Canada, and their plans to have a Canada Economic Action Plan; one they would have gladly launched had they not spent so much money on advertising. What with TV spots, sides of buses, billboards, signs and big cardboard cheques, there simply was no money left for anything else.
Maybe next time.
But at least the messaging for the ads was humorous.
The notices, from the Finance Department and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, say the government wants the campaigns to promote efforts to assist Canadian workers in the economic downturn, as well as other initiatives relating to tax policy, stimulus spending and strengthening the financial system.
These guys think they're Coca Cola, with a limitless budget to convince us that they are the real thing.
However, you don't advertise that you are the best at handling our money when you waste it so flagrantly. Maybe if you knocked off the constant stream of feel good juice, and started taking our finances seriously, we might not be in this bloody mess.
There was an op-ed piece in the Lac du Bonnet Leader, that sums up nicely just how ridiculous this whole thing is:
You can't get away from it. This government has the best propaganda machine I've ever seen.As many Canadians sit down in front of their televisions over the next month to watch Olympic coverage, they will be literally bombarded with Conservative "action plan" advertisements that are paid for with their own tax dollars.
.. This government has turned using taxpayer money to promote itself into an art form. The action plan Ad-Scam is possibly the biggest example so far. It started off with a $2 million "action plan" website, that is jam-packed with partisan images, it even had a link to a video of Stephen Harper playing piano and singing a Beatles tune. $2 million for a website? Seriously??
It will be interesting to see how many millions are cut from social programs to pay for this Conservative ad blitz. Would it be too much to ask for the Conservatives to pay for their campaign ads out of their own pocket, and save a few million for less fortunate Canadians who will suffer the most from the economic downturn?
I can't watch prime time television, because I don't really like American shows, and I just can't handle hearing about the fraudulent economic action plan, that they may launch, but don't hold your breath.
I can't go for a drive because I see nothing but damn signs, paid for by us, with no return on our investment.
And I can't open my newspaper (Sun Media) without seeing a half page photo-op of our not so humble dictator with the usual 'all hail the Messiah' headline.
IS THIS REALLY CONSERVATIVE? IS STEPHEN HARPER REALLY THE BEST CHOICE FOR CANADA?
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