B.C. auditor says tougher guidelines required to monitor government advertising
VICTORIA — British Columbia’s auditor general says political partisanship appears to have crept into taxpayer-funded government advertising, prompting her call Friday for tougher monitoring guidelines.
Carol Bellringer said she called Advanced Education Minister Andrew Wilkinson, the minister responsible for the advertising program, to her office for a meeting this week after viewing the Liberal government’s ad campaign highlighting the surplus budget.
She said an ad discussing the government’s balanced budget and a proposed cut to medical premiums appeared to exceed guidelines for information that should be included in public communications.