‘Our party took a $20-million hit,’ Conservatives to claw back money from candidates post-election; MPs well on way to stocking 2019 coffers
The Conservative Party will begin clawing back money from its electoral district associations after the next election, to make up for money lost when the former Conservative government eliminated the per-vote subsidy. The Conservative Party will ask the EDAs to hand over half of the money they receive when Elections Canada reimburses candidates for 60 […]
Political advocacy via hashtag is only tweeting to the choir
OAKVILLE, ONT.—For political advocacy groups, such as organizations that rabble rouse on issues like taxes and the environment and various other causes, the ongoing social media revolution has brought with it both boon and potential peril. The boon part, of course, is pretty obvious. Thanks to social media, political advocacy groups can now reach vast […]
Brand control, ‘beefed-up’ war rooms more important in era of digital campaigns
Campaign war rooms are more important than ever, turning into “content shops” churning out material with the potential to go viral as the fight for attention turns away from conventional approaches to get the message out, say campaign veterans and experts. But even though incoming Progressive Conservative Ontario Premier Doug Ford shot to power earlier this […]
Liberals’ major new elections bill to undercut Conservatives’ spending advantage during campaigns
The government’s major new elections bill will scrap the rising cap on spending by political parties during long election campaigns, a move that could limit how the opposition Conservatives can capitalize on their long-held fundraising advantage in the 2019 election. Bill C-76, the Elections Modernization Act, will also establish a spending limit for at least […]
Facebook makes it easy to run illegal and ‘Astroturf’ ads, say Canadian digital political strategists
Anonymous and illegal political ad campaigns are probably already running in Canada, thanks in part to Facebook and other online advertising platforms that make it easy to skirt laws around political advertising, say political digital marketing specialists. “If you want to influence around the rules, it’s pretty straightforward to do so,” said Stephen Carter, a […]
“The federal government is reportedly considering changes to digital political advertising rules. What should be done?”
Cameron Ahmad Liberal strategist “Ensuring Canada has tough election financing laws is one way to improve, strengthen, and protect our democratic institutions. Our government is reviewing the limits on the amounts political parties and third parties can spend during elections, and proposing new measures to ensure that spending between elections is subject to reasonable limits […]
Bill to ban unhealthy food ads for kids clears Senate, House sponsor sought
With her bill having passed the Senate last week, Conservative Senator Nancy Greene Raine is now casting about for an MP in the House to champion her legislation banning the advertising of unhealthy food and drinks to children under the age of 17. Bill S-228, the Child Health Protection Act, seeks to change the Food […]
Gender pay gap due to sexism, not women’s poor negotiating skills
OTTAWA—The creative Secret deodorant message is intended to portray a young woman who is standing up for her right to equal pay. Instead, it reinforces the message that the indefensible pay gap between young women and men is the result of poor female negotiating skills. Just last week, the University of Waterloo announced a half-measured […]
Government’s non-partisan ad and communications policy met by cries of partisanship, confusion
The federal government’s new policy on partisan-free advertising and communications unveiled last Thursday, which is intended to provide “clearer and simplified guidance to officials on the conduct of government communications activities,” resulted in miscommunication and confusion within 24 hours of its release. Though the policy is intended to prevent partisan government advertising, it’s not clear […]
Corrections
A caption on page 9 in last week’s issue of The Hill Times incorrectly stated Prime Minister Paul Martin and his wife Sheila bought their Christmas wreath in the ByWard Market. The Prime Minister bought the $240 wreath at Tivoli Florist in Westboro, where Liberal candidate Richard Mahoney was campaigning. * In last week’s Heard […]
