Conservative MP Gerald Keddy and Debra Reeves pose with a government stimulus cheque in Chester, N.S., last year.
Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson says new rules are required to curb the increasing politicization of federal announcements by the Conservative government.
In twin reports released Thursday, the commissioner responds to numerous complaints from MPs and the public about Conservative MPs' use of large novelty cheques to announce local federal spending projects.
Ms. Dawson concludes that using cheques featuring either the name of the MP or the Conservative Party logo "goes too far" and could diminish public confidence in the integrity of elected officials. Her report concludes that the cheques do not violate the conflict-of-interest code for MPs or the Conflict of Interest Act for cabinet ministers, but are symptomatic of a larger politicization of government that must be addressed.
"I recognize that a government in power might not wish to limit itself from putting a partisan overlay on its public announcements," Ms. Dawson wrote in her report. "Nonetheless, it does appear that there has been a tendency to increase incrementally the use of partisan or personal identifiers in government communications. I believe that steps should be taken to address this."
To this point, she noted that concerns have been raised that slogans and colours that are similar to those of the Conservative Party are being used in government advertising.
The report points to two specific examples of new rules that the government and Parliament could consider. Ms. Dawson notes that Alberta and Ontario allow independent third parties to oversee government advertising for signs of partisanship.
"Ultimately, it is up to the government and possibly the House of Commons or Parliament to consider whether they are willing to address the politicization of government communications," she wrote. As a first step, the report suggests changing Treasury Board policies to explicitly prohibit cabinet ministers from including partisan or personal identifiers on government messages and that all "communications materials" be submitted to a third party.
Complaints filed last fall alleged that Conservative MPs were violating conflict-of-interest rules with the way in which they made spending announcements, primarily in connection with billions of dollars in federal stimulus spending.
When photos appeared of Nova Scotia MP Gerald Keddy with a large prop cheque that featured the Conservative Party logo, Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated publicly that the incident was a mistake that should not be repeated.
Some of the complaints argued the MPs were improperly improving their personal private interests with the cheques by increasing their chances of re-election. Ms. Dawson disagreed.
"Following this argument to its logical conclusion, however, would imply that any actions undertaken by a Member aimed at enhancing his or her image with constituents could be construed as furthering a private interest," she wrote. "This cannot be the intent of the Code."
Bill Curry