New Ontario climate change ad ‘likely’ acceptable under old rules: auditor's office

Ontario’s Liberal government has found a way to advertise the threat posed by climate change without irking the auditor general.

The government’s new climate-themed spots have been popping up on social media and television in recent weeks. Here’s one:

However, some of the government’s past attempts at advertising (such as a climate ad starring David Suzuki) have been met with criticism by Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk, who has been protesting changes that were made to the Government Advertising Act in June 2015 by the Liberals.

Those changes, the AG’s office has said, resulted in the “weakening” of the law by narrowing the criteria of what is considered partisan, and therefore, what the auditor can reject. This, Lysyk warned, would turn her office into a “rubber stamp,” and she has freely pointed out ads that would not have made the cut under the old ad rules.

In her 2016 annual report, Lysyk said the government spent nearly $50 million on advertising in 2015-16, up from $30 million the prior fiscal year.

But a spokesperson for Lysyk’s office suggested the new climate ads would have passed muster under the old ad rules.

“Yes, we approved this ad,” Christine Pedias said Monday in an email. “It likely would have passed under the old rules as well as it does not appear to be partisan.”

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