The Canadian Press
TORONTO—Ontario’s Liberal government is defending a publicly-funded ad that promotes an agreement to enhance the Canada Pension Plan—a federal program.
“Ontario has been working to help close the retirement savings gap,” a voice says in the ad.
“Now the improved CPP would help close the gap and strengthen retirement security for working Canadians,” it adds.
Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk said she would not have approved the ad under the previous rules, but the Liberals changed them last year.
The new rules remove the auditor’s discretion to veto ads her office feels are partisan, Lysyk noted.
“We did find that the ads were self-congratulatory and aimed at ensuring the government gets credit for the pension initiative versus informing the public with some useful information,” Lysyk said in an interview.
“It’s more federal jurisdiction so that would have been the main thing . . . and federal jurisdiction where a lot can still happen,” she added.
Ratification of the agreement-in-principle to enhance the CPP was delayed last month when B.C. declined to sign off by the deadline, saying it needed more time to explain the deal to its residents and stakeholders, such as business owners, and give the public more time to provide feedback.
Without B.C.’s full support, the proposed changes to the CPP would not be able to move forward because it requires at least seven provinces representing at least two-thirds of Canada’s population.
A spokeswoman for Ontario Finance minister Charles Sousa said that without Ontario’s push, the CPP agreement would not have happened.
“As government, we have a responsibility to raise awareness and communicate information about programs and services that affect Ontarians,” Kelsey Ingram said in a statement.
The end of the ad urges listeners to visit an Ontario.ca/retirement website, which has information about how CPP changes will affect Ontarians, she noted.
NDP critic Catherine Fife questioned the timing of the ad, which is running in the midst of a byelection in Scarborough-Rouge River.
“They are using public dollars to try and gain a partisan advantage for the Liberal party,” she charged.
