Provincial government signs touting the government's spending on infrastructure projects are unnecessary and a waste of taxpayers' money, say critics of the $1.04 million that was spent on the signs in 2013.
ìWe're spending more than a million dollars a year on partisan signs to advertise all of the spending that we're doing,î said Derek Fildebrandt, Alberta director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. ìYou can't drive around Alberta without seeing one of these things on every second street corner and we've gotten quite a few emails and phone calls from some of our supporters, asking how much these things cost.î
Such signs are visible on provincial highways, including signs promoting recent paving work on Highway 2 near Olds.
The $1.04 million that was spent in 2013 is a 377 per cent increase over the $219,000 that was spent on the Building Alberta signs in 2012. In 2011, $33,000 was spent on the signs, which feature Premier Alison Redford on the billboards. The CTF received these figures after it lodged a freedom of information request asking for the costs of the Building Alberta campaign from the provincial government.
ìWhat came back was startling. We're spending $3,560 (per) sign in 2013. That's an incredible amount of money to be spending on a roadside sign,î Fildebrandt said.
While he doesn't disagree with the government spending some money to draw attention to its record, Fildebrandt does disagree with putting premier Redford's name on the signs.
ìThe Building Alberta signs use the Progressive Conservative party colours and they have Premier Redford's name right on them,î Fildebrandt said. ìThey say ëThe Right Honourable Premier Alison Redford.' I think there would be quite a few people who would rightfully scream bloody murder if Stephen Harper put his name on the (federal government's) Economic Action Plan signs. We think those (federal government signs) are partisan (and) they are inappropriate and a waste of money, but they're not quite as in-your-face brazenly partisan as the Building Alberta signs.î
Fildebrandt said the spending is simply a way to ìdistractî people's attention from the fact the provincial government is projected to be $17 billion in debt by 2015-16, when many people expect the next election to be called. He added it wasn't a coincidence that the Conservatives spent 5.6 per cent more on the signs in 2012 than in 2011, because the ruling party wanted to tout its record during an election year.
As a result of the increase on what it believes is a waste of money for partisan purposes, the CTF is calling on MLAs to pass legislation requiring that government advertising be approved by Merwan Saher, Alberta's auditor general.
But Christine Way, press secretary for the provincial transportation minister, said the signs are in no way partisan and are simply a way of informing the public about how tax dollars are being spent on infrastructure.
ìIt's really important to us that Albertans know how we're investing in the future of their province and also how we're working to build flood-affected infrastructure,î she said, noting that 56 projects that were undertaken as a result of the June 2013 floods received signage accompanying the projects. ìWe did see an increase in the amount of money spent on these Building Alberta signs in 2013 and this can be attributed to the significant increase in projects due to flood recovery efforts. Due to the unprecedented natural disaster that we experienced is the reason that we saw the (increased spending) last year.î
Way said the colours on the signs conform to the government's corporate identity manual. She said other jurisdictions in Canada feature signage of political figures and this campaign is following that model.
The official Opposition Wildrose Party has also weighed in on the issue, calling on Redford to order the Conservatives to pay back taxpayers for the partisan signage.
ìThis was never about informing Albertans about anything meaningful. It was about boosting the Premier's image at taxpayers' expense,î said Rob Anderson, the Wildrose's finance critic, in a press release.
Wildrose has pressed the Conservatives to release the total cost of the Building Alberta ad campaign, which has also included Internet and television advertising, but the Conservatives have so far not done so, according to the party.
ìOne million dollars could have done some real good by funding 20 new teachers or over 30 hip replacement surgeries, or it would have gone most of the way towards paying to keep the Michener Centre in Red Deer open,î Anderson said.
