Bumping Up Spending on Propaganda

The Globe and Mail reported¹ (4 March 2010) that the Conservatives have increased the amount the government is spending on advertising its Economic Action Plan (EAP).

“The government has increased its spending on the promotion of the January, 2009, Economic Action Plan by $5-million – on top of the initial allotment of $34-million – for a 15-per-cent increase.”

It’s problematic that the amount being spent on these ads is so massive. Surely there are a multitude of ways to spread this information that would not cost an outrageous $40 million of taxpayer money, which could otherwise be spent on the actual action.

Conservative spokespeople justify the ad spending as a form of educating the public on what is available to help, which seems like a good idea in principle. Interesting that much of the actual help provided, for example assistance to the unemployed, is available against the Conservative’s wishes. They were largely forced into that one by the NDP.

The tone of the ads tends toward optimistic and uplifting, suggesting lots of government help is available and things will be better. Again, this seems good in principle, but the frequent intentional public linkage of Conservatives with these ads, ties that strong, action-bound feeling in the ads with one party in particular–the Conservatives. It’s not too hard to find images in the press featuring Conservatives against the backdrop of the EAP imagery. And that’s no accident. Stephen Harper’s iron-fisted control of information and imagery is notorious (there are often press reports of not being allowed the normal freedoms in the photos it takes of him, and pre-made shots are provided instead).

The photograph in this CBC article³ (9 November 2009) on the subject of the American company contracted to produce the EAP signs. I don’t know who took that picture or under what conditions. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it–just the PM seeming to give a talk about the EAP. But when these images pop up frequently and are positioned so that that’s what is maintained in the public eye, something starts to feel wrong–like we, the public, are being propagandized for one party’s message.

A Canadian Press² article (10 October 2009) had an in-depth article on the subject, mentioning:

“The Privy Council Office, the non-partisan bureaucratic arm of the Prime Minister’s Office, has never been comfortable administering the website for the Economic Action Plan – and informed Harper of its misgivings at the time of last January’s federal budget. . . . While the story is being denied by both PCO and PMO, the extraordinary claim originates from several sources within the famously discreet Privy Council Office.”

Notice the screenshot on that page laden with Conservative imagery and photos. Rather than being a useful non-partisan service about what the government is engaged in, it appears to be serving as ads that help guide public sentiment toward the Tories.

Rick Mercer pokes fun at the controversy in this clip

Notice the images in the background–they cycle through various Conservative publicity pics involving the EAP. Mercer’s bit manages to call attention to all three controversies. The Tory tie-in, the amount being spent on the ads, and the not-to-be-missed irony, that the EAP signs themselves weren’t even produced in Canada (tax payer money paid to a foreign company rather than helping a Canadian one, all for the sake of promoting the idea that the EAP is here to help).