Published: August 26, 2008 7:00 PM
Last week, I opened the mail box and found a brochure with the pictures of a tank and a soldier on the front, as well as the words They Protect Us.
But it's what was inside that really caught me off-guard. There was a phoney ballot asking me to vote on which national political leader supports Canada's troops the best. And at the bottom was the smiling face of our MP, Colin Mayes.
I was surprised because the one-page-two-sided brochure was such a dramatic departure from what Mayes usually mails me. Instead of updates on issues he is pursuing on behalf of constituents or how he appeared in the Lumby parade, this latest offering was blatantly partisan. Ultimately, I was left wondering who paid for it?
During an interview Tuesday, Mayes confirmed the brochure was part of a taxpayer-funded program available to all federal politicians.
"All parties have the option of doing this. Every party does this," he said.
Mayes has brochures with about 12 different topics in circulation, and besides the military, some of them deal with gun control and crime. Other potential issues were apparently ignored.
"Some were too political for me. I don't like bashing other parties," he said.
Mayes' office picked up the costs of printing while the postage was covered by Parliament. About 60,000 were printed for Okanagan-Shuswap at a cost of less than $10,000, according to Mayes, who insists that this is an acceptable use of public funding.
"It's appropriate to get our message out and show what our government is doing," he said.
And that is where I take issue with Mayes.
There is of course nothing wrong with the Conservative Party promoting itself and trying to garner the support of Canadians, but to do it under the guise of correspondence between an MP and his constituents is questionable.
And for Mayes to brush the issue off by saying every party does this is absolutely laughable. Keeping with that schoolyard logic, would Mayes thrust himself off a cliff if Jack Layton or Stephane Dion had done so?
Just because the other parties are willing to slurp from the public trough doesn't mean the Conservatives have to.
In fact, wasn't it Stephen Harper and his gang that promised to manage our dollars more wisely and to get away from the political games of the past?
Mayes also appears to be out of touch when he explains that his office paid for printing while the bill for postage was handled by Parliament. That's all well and good, but both places get their cash from the same source — the taxpayer.
Mayes also insists that he doesn't like to bash other political parties, but you'd never know it by looking at the brochure I got in the mail. All of the federal leaders are pictured, but an arrow encourages readers to select Harper as the great defender of the troops. Elsewhere in the brochure, there are phrases like We Will Protect Them and Real Action, Real Results. It's nothing but shameless campaigning, and Mayes can't hide that fact.
In the end, a federal election could be called any day now so obviously all of the parties are trying to get their message out. After all, that is how democracy works in this country.
But if the Conservatives are so proud of their track record in government, they should be willing to foot the bill for the propaganda machine instead of placing it on the backs of taxpayers.
Last week, I opened the mail box and found a brochure with the pictures of a tank and a soldier on the front, as well as the words They Protect Us.
But it's what was inside that really caught me off-guard. There was a phoney ballot asking me to vote on which national political leader supports Canada's troops the best. And at the bottom was the smiling face of our MP, Colin Mayes.
I was surprised because the one-page-two-sided brochure was such a dramatic departure from what Mayes usually mails me. Instead of updates on issues he is pursuing on behalf of constituents or how he appeared in the Lumby parade, this latest offering was blatantly partisan. Ultimately, I was left wondering who paid for it?
During an interview Tuesday, Mayes confirmed the brochure was part of a taxpayer-funded program available to all federal politicians.
"All parties have the option of doing this. Every party does this," he said.
Mayes has brochures with about 12 different topics in circulation, and besides the military, some of them deal with gun control and crime. Other potential issues were apparently ignored.
"Some were too political for me. I don't like bashing other parties," he said.
Mayes' office picked up the costs of printing while the postage was covered by Parliament. About 60,000 were printed for Okanagan-Shuswap at a cost of less than $10,000, according to Mayes, who insists that this is an acceptable use of public funding.
"It's appropriate to get our message out and show what our government is doing," he said.
And that is where I take issue with Mayes.
There is of course nothing wrong with the Conservative Party promoting itself and trying to garner the support of Canadians, but to do it under the guise of correspondence between an MP and his constituents is questionable.
And for Mayes to brush the issue off by saying every party does this is absolutely laughable. Keeping with that schoolyard logic, would Mayes thrust himself off a cliff if Jack Layton or Stephane Dion had done so?
Just because the other parties are willing to slurp from the public trough doesn't mean the Conservatives have to.
In fact, wasn't it Stephen Harper and his gang that promised to manage our dollars more wisely and to get away from the political games of the past?
Mayes also appears to be out of touch when he explains that his office paid for printing while the bill for postage was handled by Parliament. That's all well and good, but both places get their cash from the same source — the taxpayer.
Mayes also insists that he doesn't like to bash other political parties, but you'd never know it by looking at the brochure I got in the mail. All of the federal leaders are pictured, but an arrow encourages readers to select Harper as the great defender of the troops. Elsewhere in the brochure, there are phrases like We Will Protect Them and Real Action, Real Results. It's nothing but shameless campaigning, and Mayes can't hide that fact.
In the end, a federal election could be called any day now so obviously all of the parties are trying to get their message out. After all, that is how democracy works in this country.
But if the Conservatives are so proud of their track record in government, they should be willing to foot the bill for the propaganda machine instead of placing it on the backs of taxpayers.
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