Winston Smith would cringe

I had started to wonder if the Conservative Party was simply made of money - what with their new Quebec ads spreading bs about Stephane Dion, and the Orwellian show John Baird and Maxime Bermier gave with the media a tour of their Campaign HQ, and told all with a straight face, "Election? What Election?" Sure, and Oceania was at war with Eurasia; therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia. Carry on.

And then there was the news that the Conservatives were going to run ads hitting back at Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams. Not so coincidently, Williams and his government ran ads in the major dailies last week slamming the federal government for breaking its promise on equalization. But wait, its not the Conservatives who are going to runs ads against Williams, it's the Government of Canada. Tories using the public's cash to promote themselves. Gee, I've never heard of that one before. Read below.

PM to use tax dollars for ad blitz
Tories to defend budget with Newfoundland 'info' campaign

Andrew Mayeda
The Ottawa Citizen
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Prime Minister Stephen Harper plans to use federal taxpayers' money to finance ads defending his government's budget against attacks by Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams.
Mr. Harper defended the move yesterday, saying: "It's important to get the facts on the record." But critics say the prime minister has no business dipping into federal coffers to finance what are essentially political ads.
"Spending hard-earned tax dollars on this kind of paid advertising campaign is a silly and ridiculous use of government resources," said John Williamson, national director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "With the number of journalists following both men around, you would think they would be able to take their message to voters."
The dispute between Mr. Harper and Mr. Williams, a Progressive Conservative, centres on the formula used to calculate equalization payments to the provinces.
Last week, Mr. Williams launched newspaper ads across the country attacking Mr. Harper for breaking a promise to exclude non-renewable natural resource revenues from the formula. Such a move would favour Newfoundland, which has substantial offshore oil and gas resources.
The budget gives provinces the option of excluding all resource revenues, but also caps the fiscal capacity that any province can achieve.
Federal Tories point out that Newfoundland can choose to keep the Atlantic Accord, an agreement that excludes oil and gas revenues from the equalization formula until 2012.
But doing so would prevent the province from benefiting from the new, enriched equalization system.
The Harper government will launch print ads in Newfoundland and Labrador tomorrow, followed by radio spots and more print ads next week.
The ads are expected to accuse Mr. Williams of spreading misinformation and argue the budget leaves Newfoundlanders better off.
Mr. Williams remained defiant in the face of the counterattack. "I think the running of those ads just insults the intelligence and the integrity of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador," he said yesterday.
He reiterated his wish to see Mr. Harper voted out of office.
In defending his decision to use public money, Mr. Harper said Mr. Williams financed his own ads through provincial cash. The ads, which ran in 16 national newspapers, cost about $250,000.
Mr. Harper also rejected the term "attack ads," calling the move an "information campaign."
Using public money to pay for ads defending the government in provincial disputes is not unprecedented. In 2000, former prime minister Jean Chretien launched a newspaper ad campaign in response to ads from former Ontario premier Mike Harris that attacked the federal government for reducing financial support for health care.
The purpose of the sponsorship program that later enveloped the Liberals in scandal was to raise the federal government's profile in Quebec.
Mr. Williams said it is legitimate to spend tax dollars on ads explaining government programs or recruiting for organizations such as the military.
But he said the new ads "cross the line" into political gamesmanship and should have been financed by the Conservative party.