Conservatives overspent government ad budgets by 37%
...an examination of the Conservative government's first five years in office shows it overspent ... cabinet-approved ad budgets by $128 million -- more than 37 per cent.
...
In 2010-11, the last full year for which final accounting is available, the Harper cabinet approved $65.4 million in spending, but the government ran up an advertising bill of $83.3 million.
A year earlier, at the height of the economic crisis and during an influenza pandemic, the government approved $85.3 million in advertising but spent $136.3 million.
In fact, in every single year since the Conservatives took office, the government has exceeded its posted advertising budget by at least 25 per cent ...
There's certainly a discussion to be had about whether a federal government that's preaching austerity should be spending this much on self-promotion. But aside from that, how does a group that consistently overshoots its approved budget by 25 per cent or more for five years running maintain a reputation for being the adults in the room when it comes to managing money?
Put another way, why haven't we seen retractions and apologies from pundits and editorial boards across the country?
And WE'RE paying for his re-election campaign!
In our 'democracy' we have three things we must do--shut up, obey, and pay.
Canadians are in debt mainly because of government greed and their entitlements but that is ok. The arrogance of the pigs at the trough knows no bounds. And no one can hold them accountable.
Another AdScam variation and too few seem to care.
In addition to the useless mainstream media, I think the Opposition parties share some of the blame. When Harper was the Leader of the Opposition, he was relentless in attacking the ruling LPC, especially when he got his hands on a juicy, genuine scandal like AdScam. Since his first minority government, there have been plenty of scandals (Tony Gazebo Clement, Gerry tainted cold cuts Ritz, Maxine Bernier, etc), but somehow the opposition never really figured out how to frame outrage.