Author: Stephen Taylor

Let’s end partisan ten-percenters that are taxpayer-funded

The Conservatives have been making news lately for their attack ads on Justin Trudeau claiming that the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada is “just in over his head”. So ends another week in politics; parties have run contrast ads on their candidates since before television was invented.

But where we should draw the line is on taxpayer-funded mailings known as ten-percenters. Parties are free to fundraise to fund their advertising, however, the abuse of taxpayer-supported MP-constituent communications repurposed as partisan attacks or plaudits should be stopped.

We at the National Citizens Coalition support Conservative backbenchers who have spoken out against the practice and are calling on other MPs to support their colleagues.

This tweet was retweeted by Liberals including Justin’s brain, Gerald Butts. However, they may only support pushback against the Conservatives instead of being truly against the issue itself.

In response to inquiries about whether or not the Conservative caucus would send out the highly partisan “just in over his head” ten-percenters, the Prime Minister shrugged suggesting all other parties do it.

So, it seems we’re not going anywhere on the issue. Here, the Prime Minister isn’t showing leadership against the practice and the Liberals are only trying to get an earned media bump from disparaging their opponent.

Here are some other examples of partisan ten-percenters sent out at the taxpayer’s expense,

CBC is hiring!

Casting call!

Hello!
 
If you’re here to find instructions regarding a self tape audition submission for the male Kids’ CBC Host, you’re in the right place! Below, you will find a PDF with the audition material and all of the instructions.
 
Please only submit if you match the following criteria:
· Male between the ages of 23-35yrs
· Any race except Caucasian
· Non-union
· Must be able to carry a tune (ability to dance or move well is a bonus but not necessary)
· Comfortable being in front of a camera and not afraid to show a silly side
· Great with kids; the type of guy that pre-schoolers would love to be around
· Loves physical comedy, would enjoy hanging out with puppets all day and can be funny on the fly

So does this also mean “no Irish” need apply?

Here is the Government of Canada’s position on discriminatory hiring in the public service. According to one of Stephen Harper’s former Presidents of the Treasury Board, Stockwell Day,

“While we support diversity in the public service, we want to ensure that no Canadian is barred from opportunities in the public service based on race or ethnicity,” Day said in a statement.
 
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, who was also involved in the decision to review the government’s hiring practices, which give priority to qualified applicants from minority groups, said everyone should be considered for federal jobs.
 
“We are in favour of appropriate diversity in the public service and reasonable efforts to achieve it, but we don’t think any Canadians should be excluded from applying within their government,” he told CBC News. “It’s OK to encourage people from different backgrounds to apply but in our judgment it goes too far to tell people that if they are not of a particular race or ethnicity they cannot apply [for a job] that is actually funded by their tax dollars.”

UPDATE: The casting agency has removed the “Any race except Caucasian” line. This obviously will affect the application process. But will it affect the final selection?

Here is a screenshot of the CBC Kids casting call as it originally appeared:

UPDATE: @alexguibord and @jldmorris spotted the agency’s posting this morning and contacted the company. At the time, the agency defended the posting. Now, the agency tells HuffPo and Canada.com that the posting was a mistake.

Here is the email the agency representative sent @jldmorris (click to enlarge),