We now have some new information on the DFO press releases from earlier this week.
Federal Conservatives say they made a mistake when they allowed press releases attacking the Liberals to be written and distributed using taxpayer dollars, a contravention of federal government communication guidelines. . .
Officials in Shea's office say such partisan attacks should not have come from the department and the Conservative party will be reimbursing the department for the ads cost of preparing and distributing the prss releases.
“We are correcting the situation with the statements that were mistakenly issued under (departmental) letterhead. This was an oversight on our part,” said Ann Matjicka, who, as communications director for Shea, is part of her political staff and not a departmental employee. [Read the rest of the story]
how will canadians be compensated?
“…the Conservative party will be reimbursing the department for the ads”
Can I assume you were typing so quickly you put “ads” instead of “releases”? Or was there more to this story that I missed somehow?
Good catch Anonymous! Changes being made … (And I was typing quickly but then, I always type quickly.)
Let me be the first here to applaud the Conservatives for doing the right thing here. I agree that this kind of behavior should not be happening in the acting capacity of a departments duties.
That the issue was identified, raised and resolved is exactly the kind of action I would expect to see. Unfortunately, it won't be “praised” per se, and the government won't even be thanked for acting so quickly and accepting fault. Unfortunately, the government will be hounded by the opposition for eternity over this issue as they have on many others.
Before anyone jumps on me for this, I would hope for the same kind of treatment and recognition for any party in such a circumstance.
I'll be pleasantly surprised if the Opposition Parties consider the issue dealt with and in the past. I'm not going to hold my breath though.
Are you being serious or sarcastic in your praise for the Conservatives, Sean? I honestly can't tell.
Are you serious when, for you, the issue here is that the Conservatives responded quickly after they got caught after, not one inadvertent release, not even two, but three highly partisan and rule-breaking press releases?
And you think it would be unfair, given the Conservatives' history of using government offices for strictly and severely partisan purposes (eg. 80% of infrastructure spending in Tory ridings, the fiscal update, etc.), for opposition parties to highlight that the Conservatives are still up to their old tricks?
The Canada.com article you mention states that the Government of Canada (GofC) gets a discount since they are a large customer. Will the Conservatives be paying the GofC the discounted rate or the cost if the Conservatives would have paid if they did things legally (i.e., no discount)? Do the Conservatives (or any other parties) get fined if they do something like this?
Also, look at all the free press they are getting from this.
I'm being serious. I think it's important for us as citizens to recognize and appreciate when a government admits to and takes responsibility for an error. Setting aside any partisan standings, we need to encourage our politicians to “do the right thing“.
If we as citizens can create an environment where taking ownership for errors and mistakes will be accepted and appreciated, maybe in the future there will be fewer “cover-ups” or hiding of these kinds of things. Then once it's been dealt with, we can move on with more important issues.
The alternative is that we continue wasting time as opponents shout and accuse and vilify for the next two weeks (or more) in order to score cheap political points and not deal with more important issues at hand. Some might find this preferable as they prefer to simply look for reasons to attack or find ways to discredit their opponents.
I am not one of those people. I refuse to be part of the problem.
The Government has taken ownership of this issue, they have apologized and will make restitution. I'm not saying we forget. I'm just saying we move on. I for one am willing to encourage more honesty in government by appreciating it when it happens, than facilitating the environment of hostility that encourages hiding mistakes.
And to repeat from my other post, I do not agree with what the government did. It was wrong. I don't accept that kind of activity under any government.