There is no consensus among federal opposition parties regarding the increasingly nasty taxpayer-funded flyers that politicians send into the ridings of their political opponents.
But some of the originators of the most provocative material in the so-called "ten percenters" may have to explain themselves publicly.
The House of Commons voted last night to turn the matter over to the Commons procedures and House affairs committee after Speaker Peter Milliken found that a Conservative flyer targeting Jews in the Montreal riding of Liberal MP Irwin Cotler had damaged Mr. Cotler's reputation and credibility.
The committee is already debating a complaint from New Democrat MP Peter Stoffer, who recently received an apology from Tory MP Maurice Vellacott over a suggestion in a similarly distributed pamphlet that Mr. Stoffer supported the gun registry.
Mr. Stoffer told the committee last week that he has opposed the registry since 1997.
"I accepted Mr. Vellacott's apology without reservation," Mr. Stoffer said.
"But I still need to hear from the person who designed this and who ultimately authorized this to be sent into my riding."
He added that the "individual or group of individuals" are workers for the Conservative Party.
The committee has yet to say whether it will call the Tory operatives who created the flyer that Mr. Stoffer found egregious.
That decision could be made today when its members meet behind closed doors.
But now it will also have a complaint from Mr. Cotler of "malicious accusations" to consider.
The veteran MP wants the committee to ask the Conservatives to repay the public purse for the money spent on the ten percenter that questioned the Liberal Party's support for Israel.
Mr. Cotler says the distributed material suggested the Liberals were anti-Semitic.
The Conservatives call that nonsense.
In any case, Mr. Cotler said yesterday, ten percenters should be eliminated. "My sense is that they are not serving to inform the public or elevate public discourse but, in fact, the opposite."
Many Canadians say they find the material in the flyers offensive.
But Alex Marland, a political science professor at Memorial University in Newfoundland who has studied political marketing, says they are also effective.
And there is no consensus among opposition parties regarding what should be done about them.
The Liberals, who have seen successive leaders excoriated in material distributed by Conservative MPs, want the pamphlets restricted to the ridings of the politicians who distribute them.
The NDP merely wants rules to restrict the most blatant partisan excesses.
And the Bloc Québécois says that the flyers, when used appropriately, can be good tools of communication.
The Conservatives point out that all parties send the flyers into ridings held by members of other political stripes.
"Apparently, for them, what is good for the goose is not good for the gander," Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told the House of Commons.
He said he rejects "the terribly mistaken inference" that the Conservative pamphlet sent into Mr. Cotler's riding was anti-Semitic.
But Mr. Cotler remains deeply offended and said his complaint about the ten percenter to the Speaker marked the first time in 10 years as an MP that he has risen on a point of privilege.
"To go ahead and accuse a political party and the members of that party of being identified with or giving support to anti-Semitism is, in my view, beyond the pale," he said.
"And regrettably, lies have long legs."
***
Media of the message
Members of Parliament can use several taxpayer-funded vehicles to communicate with constituents.
Advertising
MPs may spend as much as 10 per cent of their annually allotted office budget of about $275,000 on advertising. The ads may provide information about their office location and contact information, explain the services they provide, announce constituency events, issue congratulatory messages and greetings and express opinions to support their parliamentary work.
Householders
MPs may print and mail four newsletters to their constituents each year. Called householders, they are intended to inform residents about parliamentary activities and issues. The number of householders printed at the expense of the House of Commons may not exceed the number of households in an MP's riding, although they may print more and charge them to their own office budget.
Ten percenters
These are flyers that are printed or photocopied in batches that may not exceed 10 per cent of the total number of households in a member's constituency. They may be distributed within an MP's own constituency or that of another federal politician. They are printed in black and white and must be at least 50-per-cent different from any other ten percenter produced. Only one print run is allowed for each ten percenter per fiscal year and the material must prominently include the name of the MP who originated it. Parties with 12 or more members may send out identical ten percenters on behalf of some or all of their members.
Gloria Galloway
