It’s supposed to be gone. But taxpayer-funded partisan advertising has returned to Ontario, with the auditor general branding a new government ad a sad step backward.

Bonnie Lysyk warned of this last spring, when the Liberal government undermined the ability of her office to veto dubious advertising practices. Now tax dollars are again being spent to support government-friendly ads that would have been blocked by Ontario’s auditor.

As reported by The Canadian Press, Lysyk said her office would have rejected a new ad from Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government promoting Ontario’s new climate change plan.

The 30-second spot was released last week featuring environmental activist and broadcaster David Suzuki. Addressing a darkened lecture hall packed with children, he is shown warning that climate change is a looming threat. “Who will have to live with the consequences? You,” he tells his young audience as the ad focuses on children’s worried faces.

A written tag line at the end of the spot states: “Let’s not leave this for our kids to figure out,” meanwhile a voice-over urges viewers to “be a part of Ontario’s climate change action plan” by accessing a designated website. As of Monday, however, there was no “action plan” there for anyone to see. People were told to “stay tuned for more details.”

The site did feature a one-minute video showing a variety of cute children sharing their opinion of climate change, with several declaring that it “sucks.”

Lysyk is quite right in concluding that the primary goal of such advertising is to inspire a feeling that Queen’s Park is on the right track.

“The intent of the ad is to create a positive impression of government doing something, versus being specific and providing people with information that they need to know and that they can do something with,” Lysyk said, as reported by CP.

Ontario’s original Government Advertising Act, introduced by the Liberals in 2004, disallowed use of public money for feel-good ads meant to foster a positive impression of governments. It gave the auditor general the right to preview government ads and block any that were deemed overly partisan.

This exceptional piece of legislation thoroughly blocked publicly funded political propaganda. But it was evidently too restrictive for Wynne’s administration.

In last year’s budget her government served notice that it would limit the definition of “partisan” advertising to more overt indications of party involvement. Use of an elected person’s name or photo, or party colours and logos, is still forbidden. But Queen’s Park is now free to spend public money on fluff such as last week’s offering — an ad that simply tells Ontarians their government has a climate change plan, of some sort, that’s implicitly backed by Canada’s most famous environmentalist.

Criticism from Lysyk comes a week after another government watchdog, Ontario’s financial accountability officer Stephen LeClair, complained of being held back by the Wynne government. He revealed that her administration routinely avoids sharing information by declaring it subject to cabinet deliberation.

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Ontario’s independent budget overseer said his office was unable to obtain even basic data, such as when the province might balance its books.

LeClair’s post was created under the Liberals in an effort to boost accountability. Undercutting him, and gutting a ban on government funded partisan ads, sends a troubling signal about where Wynne’s government is heading.

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