Doug Ford government pumps tax dollars into Ontario ad campaign, but won't say how much

Just three months before Ontario's provincial election, Premier Doug Ford's government is spending an unknown amount of public money on an advertising campaign that the opposition parties are slamming as partisan.

The campaign titled "Ontario is getting stronger" features television, radio and online ads touting the provincial government's role in economic recovery.

"More jobs are being created. Bridges and highways are being built. Public transit is expanding and new homes are being constructed, all for a growing province," says the narrator of a 30-second television ad, paid for by the government of Ontario.

The timing of the campaign and its upbeat tone have the opposition parties complaining that Ford is using taxpayer money to boost his Progressive Conservatives' re-election chances on June 2.  

The premier's office refused to reveal the cost of the ads when asked Tuesday by CBC News.

"As we emerge on the other side of this pandemic, we are focused on building confidence in Ontario's future," said Ford's press secretary Alexandra Adamo in an email. "We want people to know that Ontario is one of the best places to live, work, and raise a family." 

The 30-second television ad is running on outlets around the province, and appeared during the NFL's Super Bowl, which typically has the biggest TV audience and most expensive advertising time slot of the year.

CBC News asked Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy why the government is spending tax dollars on the ad campaign.

"I think there's a sense of optimism. I think we're coming out of the pandemic," Bethlenfalvy said Tuesday at Queen's Park. "Ontario is getting stronger. Prosperity, it's something that we want to really focus on." 

But Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk said the ads are primarily designed "to create a positive impression of the current government," not to deliver factual information about provincial programs or services.  

"The statement 'Ontario is getting stronger' needed more content and evidence to back up the claim," she said in an interview Tuesday.

Since 2005, Ontario law has required all government advertising on TV, radio and in print to be reviewed and approved by the province's auditor general as non-partisan.

However in 2015, under then-premier Kathleen Wynne, the Liberals watered down the law to narrow the definition of what's considered to be partisan. The only prohibition now is on ads that explicitly promote the governing party, the premier or cabinet ministers. 

Current Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, who was a cabinet minister in the Wynne government, didn't answer directly when asked Tuesday if he regrets the change. He instead pivoted to criticizing the premier.