It’s bad enough that Ottawa’s annoying “Economic Action Plan” ads are thinly disguised Conservative propaganda. As it turns out, they’re not even effective at that.

What a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money. Well over $100 million has been flushed away since the federal government began promoting its recession-fighting “action plan” on television, radio, in print and online in the wake of the 2009 budget. But the government’s own polling now shows this effort has left many Canadians tuned out, turned off and suspicious of Ottawa’s motives.

A fresh spate of TV and radio ads, touting the action plan, aired at the end of March in conjunction with the last federal budget. The polling firm Harris-Decima was hired by Finance Canada to assess the impact of that push. And, after surveying more than 2,000 people, the pollster reported disappointing results.

Only six respondents bothered to visit a special website set up to tout the action plan, and none called a toll-free number that was highlighted in the government’s pitch. What’s worse, several people reported outright displeasure, or complained, on seeing the ads. These findings come courtesy of The Canadian Press, which obtained a copy of the federal survey under the Access to Information Act.

The less-than-stellar result of this advertising is in line with other polling commissioned to assess the ongoing impact of the Economic Action Plan campaign. It was more effective when it was launched four years ago, with Canadians especially interested in learning more about a home renovation tax credit. Since then, however, the public has gradually grown bored with the government’s repetitive, vacuous and self-serving message.

According to Ottawa, the action plan publicity drive is meant to keep Canadians abreast of the important work their government is doing on jobs and the economy. But there’s isn’t much substance in these ads — just sentimental words and scenic pictures meant to convey a feel-good message that the country is in good shape and in good hands.

There’s a politically motivated subtext here is that’s both obvious and unconscionable. Public funds should never be used to promote partisan interests, but that’s precisely what’s going on with the federal government’s action plan advertising. Sadly, ethical concerns have never much troubled the ruling Conservatives.

Now that Canadians aren’t buying their message, one might think the Tories would stop. The bang they’re getting for their advertising buck amounts to a pop gun. But that doesn’t matter. Expect the Conservatives to keep spending big on self-promotion and for just one reason: the dollars they waste aren’t their own — they’re the taxpayers’.

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