The Harper Government - The Return of the Ten-Percenters

Remember those silly little eight and a half by eleven inch pieces of paper with an obscure MP's (most often a Conservative backbencher) Ottawa Government Caucus Services office as a return address that some Canadians used to get stuffed into their mailboxes on a regular basis?  They looked like they had been designed by a rather talentless graffiti artist and generally criticized the outlook of the Opposition and their leader.  Well, they're baaaaack!

Through some Ottawa-inspired loophole, this stupid waste of taxpayers' money seems to have  magically reappeared despite the decision made by the Board of Internal Economy back in March 2010 that was supposed to put an end to this practice.  At that time, the Board decided to change the rules on partisan "ten-percenter" mailouts, those flyers that MPs had been sending, at taxpayers' expense, to households outside their constituency in a rather desperate attempt to sway a few voters particularly in vulnerable ridings.  The original intent of ten-percenters was a means by which an MP could inform his constituents of various issues that were pertinent to their riding.  Instead, the Harper government (as they are so fond of being called) corrupted the process and used the mailouts as a taxpayer-funded campaign tool.

Here's what the Board decided back in March:

· That each Member would retain the current right to 4 householders per year for distribution in his/her constituency (my bold)

· That each Member would return to the right to an unlimited number of 10 percenters for distribution in his/her constituency (the original definition of 10 percenter being retained: that is, a communication that goes to 10% of the households in the constituency; each of these communications being 50% different from one another)

 The Board confirmed:

· That there would be no more regrouped 10 percenters (i.e. communications regrouped by party Whips once a month for distribution to targeted constituencies);

· That there would be no 10 percenter allowed for distribution outside of the constituency of the Member producing that communication. (my bold)

It was also decided that there would be limits set on paper supplies chargeable to central budgets by each Member:

· A limit to envelopes equal to 3 X the number of households in his/her constituency

· A limit of 60,000 sheets of paper (that's a stack of paper 20 feet high)

Any supplies in excess are charged to the Member's MOB.

The Board also reconfirmed the prohibition against Members charging external printing services to their Member's Office Budget for large-volume printing.

This letter arrived in the mail at a residence thousands of kilometres from the office of Randy Hoback, MP for Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.  Who, you ask?  Mr. Hoback is a first term Conservative MP and farmer from Prince Albert.  Here is his full biography and, as I suspected, he sits in the snore-filled and rarified air WAY, WAY back in the cheap seats on the government side of the House.  Here's a screen capture of his expenses for the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2010:

Notice that Mr. Hoback spent $60,705.73 on ten-percenters?  That is a lot of money for little pieces of paper that end up in the recycle bin but I guess it's easy money to spend when you don't have to work for it!

Rather than just supplying a mass-printed, impersonal mailout, this time the Harper Conservatives have gone all out, at taxpayers' expense, of course.  In an individually addressed window envelope (with the House of Commons logo on the back so it looks like really important government business), a lovely letter that is personally addressed to the occupants of the home (both husband and wife) is enclosed.  The two page (front and back) letter goes on to explain just how great the Conservatives have been at battling the economic downturn and even gives a couple of specific examples of what has happened in a particular riding.  The letter also included the mandatory "Ignatieff-led Coalition" talking point just in case we didn't understand it the first ten thousand times that we heard it.

The letter closes with a request:

"Our Government is seeking your input for the next phase of Canada's Economic Action Plan.  Your opinion is important, so please take a minute to fill out the response card." (their bold and underline)

Yes, we all know just how important our opinion is to Mr. Harper, a man who barely listens to his own Cabinet.

Here is a scan of both sides of the letter:

Sorry for blacking out parts of the letter but I'm invoking the National Security cone of secrecy.

I'll let the second page speak for itself:

Mr. Hoback.  I would ask that you consider NOT wasting taxpayers' hard-earned money to campaign for Mr. Harper no matter how charming he may seem to you.  As Canadians, we work hard for every cent we make and it's really quite annoying to get a letter from you in the mail that is so clearly partisan politicking, especially when we know that you are spending our money to do it.

...and by the way, you sent two copies of the exactly the same letter to exactly the same address.  Better get your records straightened out if you are planning to continue to waste Canadians' money.

Wayne Easter, guns and more CPC propaganda

In Wednesday's Globe and Mail, there was a back page item about a couple of issues that are near and dear to me all nicely wrapped up in one article.

Yes folks, as hard as it is to believe, those clever Conservatives in Ottawa have apparently found a way around the recent ban placed on those wonderful "10 percenters". You may recall that I've had a real "bee in my bonnet" about those little pieces of paper, especially because my riding seemed to be ground zero for the CPC propaganda blitz. Fortunately though, the delivery of Conservative Party partisan propaganda will continue with only a very short interruption in service. Yeah! It's wonderful to know that the tax dollars that I just nicely sent to Ottawa on April 30th will be returned to me so quickly. I certainly wouldn't have credited the crowd on the government side of the floor with the kind of intelligence it took to cook up this scheme but apparently, someone in the back rooms is a pretty smart cookie when it comes to spending our tax dollars on partisan propaganda.

Remember way back in mid-March when the House voted 140 to 137 to ask the Board of Internal Economy to end the wasteful practice of MPs sending out "10 percenters" to ridings that weren't their own? This practice was costing taxpayers $10 million a year. The Conservatives voted against the Liberal motion at first but after some sober second thought, the PMO announced that the Conservatives supported ending the practice if, and only if, the Board of Internal Economy supported it. On March 30th, the Board, (which makes its decisions in secret) with representatives from all parties, announced that the use of "10 percenters" had been discontinued. Because the Board debates in secret, we'll never know which MPs voted for and which voted against continuing the practice but I suspect that the story released today tells the whole tale.

Apparently, Ms. Candice Hoeppner (Conservative - Portage-Lisgar Manitoba) of Private Members Bill C-391 fame (abolishing the gun registry) has found another very clever way of contacting voters outside of her riding. She is using her taxpayer-funded postage budget to send letters to the electorate in Wayne Easter's (Liberal - Malpeque) riding. In her letter, she asks the people of the Malpeque riding whether his stance on the gun registry represents what they really want and informs them that Mr. Easter will have to vote along Liberal Party lines since Mr. Ignatieff has decided that the vote on Bill C-391 will be a whipped vote. She has selected Mr. Easter's riding for special attention since Mr. Easter was one of eight Liberal MPs to vote against his party back in November 2009 when there was a free vote on Bill C-391. His riding has been the target of numerous "10 percenters" on the registry issue and a selection of mesmerizing radio ads that unfortunately are no longer available on the conservative.ca website. Ms. Hoeppner and the Conservatives are trying to force Mr. Easter to vote for the Bill when it comes back to the House for third reading after spending time in Committee.

I'm the first to admit that Wayne Easter's stance on dismantling the gun registry seems to change on a near daily basis. It's pretty hard to know what he's thinking from one day to the next but it appears that he's now decided that (most likely because he's been told what to think) that the registry is a good idea. That's at least three different stances he's taken on the same issue but that's neither here nor there.

What is objectionable is that our elected government has found yet another way to use taxpayers' money to fund their pre-election partisan propagandizing. That is nothing less than immoral and Ms. Hoeppner should regard this action as a personal embarrassment. Unfortunately, MP budgets are determined by the same secretive Board of Internal Economy and specific expenditures are hard to determine so it will be very difficult for Canadians to find out how much is being spent under this new, improved scheme.

There's something wrong in Ottawa and I have no idea how it can be fixed. Perhaps the problem stems from the overwhelming sense of entitlement (to Canadian's tax dollars) that our elected officials develop once they hit the hallowed halls of Parliament.

At long last, the end of "10 percenters"

At long last, on Monday the Board of Internal Economy bowed to taxpayer pressure and has abolished the use of out-of-riding mail outs by all parliamentarians. Unfortunately, secrecy rules the day on the BIE so we'll never know exactly which parties voted for and which parties voted against funding these instruments of propaganda. The last we had heard, the Conservatives were not exactly against the use of "10 percenters" but they had flip flopped on the issue so it was hard to determine exactly what their final intention was.

Starting April 1, 2010, MPs will only be able to send out "10 percenters" within their own ridings. As well, they will be limited to a maximum of three prepaid return envelopes per mailing address in their ridings.

I'm going to save the last three "10 percenters" I got because they might be collector's items some day!

Now it will be interesting to see if our elected ones can find another loophole that will allow them to use tax money "donated" by the sweaty masses to fund another form of partisan propaganda.

Justification for "10 percenters"

Here are some quotes from letter I received from Guy Luzon, National Conservative Caucus Chair and MP (Conservative) for the Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry riding in eastern Ontario. This was sent to me after I had sent emails to several Conservative MPs about "10 percenters" I had received back in 2009. Apparently, I ruffled some feathers!

"Part of being effective members of Parliament is communicating with people from across the country. All parties in the House of Commons engage in distributing mail-outs and all members are permitted to do so. The opposition employs this practice and they too express their specific political opinions."

"Everything that the Conservative Party and its members distribute to Canadians is in keeping with the rules established by the House of Commons. It is out of their budget that members send you these mail-outs."

"As the party that Canadians elected into government, it is our responsibility to represent all Canadians and not just the people who reside in a Conservative riding."

Notice how he justifies the use of "10 percenters" as a means of communicating with ALL Canadians, not just those in Conservative ridings. He also justifies the practice by informing me that ALL parties employ this means of communication (although he neglects to mention that the Conservative MPs send out well more than half of the "10 percenters").

Apparently, he didn't listen when his mother admonished him that "...just because everyone else jumps into a lake, doesn't mean you have to jump too..."! Nothing like sticking to the Party line about "10 percenters" no matter whether the practice is right or wrong.

So Close Yet So Far

On Wednesday, Canadian taxpayers almost got rid of the "10 percenters".

Liberal MP Wayne Easter introduced a motion that would put an end to out-of-riding "10 percenters". The motion passed by the narrowest of margins, 140 to 137, and the matter is to be sent to the Board of Internal Economy for review. The Board of Internal Economy consists of the Commons Speaker (Chairman), Party Whips and House leaders from all 4 parties. The Liberal Party announced that they would immediately cease distribution of "10 percenters" outside MP's ridings and the NDP announced that they would abide by the decision of the Board.

The Conservatives voted against the motion. In Parliament, Stephen Harper then announced that "...the cancellation of the program is a good idea", completely contradicting the direction his party had voted. The Prime Minister's Office then announced that the vote was non-binding and that they would continue using the "10 percenter" program. Lastly, Dimitri Soudas, the PM's press secretary announced that Conservatives agreed that they would cease to send out-of-riding "10 percenters" if it applied to all parties and that that they would abide by the decision made by the Board of Internal Economy. The Conservatives then sent Pierre Poilievre (Conservative), the Prime Minister's Parliamentary Secretary (also known as Harper's lapdog), to debate with Joe Comartin (NDP) and Wayne Easter (Liberal) on CTV's Power Play. He agreed that the Conservatives would support the motion to cease "10 percenters" only if the Opposition Parties agreed to end the taxpayer subsidies to political parties.

I have no problem ending taxpayer subsidies to political parties but that is a discussion for another day. In this case, Parliament voted to pass the motion banning the fliers and no party has the authority to make an end-run around that decision. Once again, the Conservatives have shown how quickly they can flip-flop on an issue and how consistently they disregard the democratic processes of Parliament.

A bit of additional information - Conservative MPs averaged $49,680 in printing costs funded by taxpayers, NDP MPs averaged $33,825 and Liberal MPs averaged $18,500.

References:

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100317/mailings_mps_100317/20100317/?hub=WinnipegHome

Great Excitement!

Today was a big day in my household. I got another "10 percenter"! It doesn't get any better than getting new reading material for the bathroom. This time it was generously sent to my humble abode all the way from the riding of Regina - Lumsden Lake in Saskatchewan where Tom Lukiwski, Conservative MP lives. Here I thought they had forgotten all about me!

This "10 percenter" focussed on how unpatriotic Michael Ignatieff is and how "he's just in it (politics) for himself", not for all Canadians. Not only was it most informative, it was pure partisan politics at its very best.

We all know that every altruistic Conservative MP on Parliament Hill only has the best interests of Canada at heart. Their 2009 base pay of $157,738, annual expense allowance of $25,500 and annual allocation of 64 free return airline tickets would have absolutely nothing with their desire to serve Canadians!

I've sent Mr. Lukiwski my standard email questioning the use of millions of taxpayers dollars to fund the "10 percenter" Conservative election campaign. Let's just say I'm not holding my breath waiting for a response.

Paper Waste

In a previous blog, I discussed the use of "10 percenters" by our MPs in Ottawa. When I discuss "10 percenters" with some of my friends, they get a blank look on their faces and have no idea what I'm talking about. Here is an example of a "10 percenter" that I got in mid-February. I live in a riding (Malpeque) that the Conservatives see as "vulnerable" so I tend to get a lot of these in the mail. Each "10 percenter" has a return addressee on it, in my case, it's always a Conservative MP somewhere in Canada. In this particular case, David Anderson MP (Conservative) from the riding of Cypress Hills - Grassland in Saskatchewan was so kind as to send this propaganda all the way to my home in humble Prince Edward Island. I'm certain it was at his own, personal expense and that no taxpayer funding was involved! I've been sending him emails asking him that question (and several others about the program) but, for some reason, he's been unresponsive thus far.

In 2008, between 30 and 50 million of these 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheets of paper were sent to Canadian households. A breakdown of these mail outs will put the amount of waste into perspective.

A ream of 20 pound 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper contains 500 sheets and weighs 5 pounds. If we take a midpoint number of 40 million sheets being used in 2008, that's 80,000 reams of paper for a total weight of 400,000 pounds or 200 tons of paper. If you go to your local Staples or Business Depot, you'll see cases of paper containing 10 reams each. Canada's MPs used at least 8,000 of those cases to mail propaganda to your house in 2008!

Several questions. Did you or anyone in your household or, for that matter, anyone you know read any of the "10 percenters" that came to your household? Do you think that this is a colossal waste of both paper and your tax dollars? Do you think that it is moral that your tax dollars are being used by the Conservative (primarily) and Liberal Parties to campaign for the next election that hasn't even been called?

As I suggested before, mail your "10 percenters" back to the Prime Minister's Office. I just mailed a collection of them to Mr. Harper with an accompanying letter. I also make it a point to contact the MP on the return address by email.

As a reminder, the address for the PMO is:

Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2

Postage is free!

"10 percenter" Junk Mail

Those of us that live in Liberal or NDP ridings have become familiar with a new form of junk mail propaganda. Every two weeks or thereabouts, we are privileged to receive an 8 1/2 by 11 inch folded sheet of paper along with our mail with a Conservative MP as the return addressee. These folded sheets are known in political circles as "10 percenters". For the very few of us that take the time to look through our junk mail, we find that these sheets are actually political propaganda published by the Conservative government. While it is annoying to get repeated deliveries of any type of junk mail, it is REALLY annoying to get junk mail that is being paid for with our tax dollars, especially in light of this fiscal year's estimated $56 billion deficit.

If you are not familiar with "10 percenters", please refer to the following links:

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/357002

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/08/25/ten-percenters.html

"10 percenters" were originally used by Canadian politicians to contact constituents in various ridings to inform them of Government of Canada programs which may be of interest to them. Since the Harper government has come into power, they have been increasingly using "10 percenters" as a partisan campaign tool. It is estimated that, in 2008 alone, between 30 and 50 million "10 percenters" were sent out in 2008 at a cost to taxpayers of over $10 million. The Conservative and Liberal parties both use "10 percenters", however, the greatest users by far are Conservative MPs

My suggestion is that Canadians save up the "10 percenters" they receive, stick them in an envelope and return them en masse to the Prime Minister's Office. Please remember that you do not have to pay postage when sending mail to the PMO or your (or any) MP.

Our Prime Minister's mailing address is:

Office of the Prime Minister

80 Wellington Street

Ottawa

K1A 0A2

I would also encourage you to contact your MP (and any other MP that cares to respond) and ask that Parliament change the legislation that allows the use of "10 percenters" in any form. I send emails to all MPs that send "10 percenters" to my home asking them questions about the program since they are obviously anxious to communicate with me! In future postings, I will be naming those who have not responded to my email inquiries.

Let's put a quick end to this waste of money and paper!