public affairs bureau politicization

7/29/2019 Public Affairs Bureau Politicization

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Public business or propaganda?: The Alberta

Public Affairs Bureau is a monstrouspropaganda machine serving the Tory party atpublic expense, critics charge. Defenders say itprovides valuable information to concernedAlbertansEdmonton JournalSun Aug 1 2004Page: D3Section: Sunday Reader

Byline: Charles RusnellDateline: EDMONTONSource: The Edmonton Journal

A manual of "key messages" produced exclusively for Alberta ProgressiveConservative MLAs by the Public Affairs Bureau verges on propaganda,is a partisan misuse of taxpayers' money and provides the governing partywith an unfair advantage, a panel of political scientists says.

"This manual is a straight-up abuse of taxpayers' money because it ismoney that is being used to communicate what the Tory party is doing, notwhat the government is doing," said Jonathan Rose, a Queen's Universityprofessor.

"That is absolutely false," said Marisa Etmanski, press secretary to PremierRalph Klein, the minister responsible for the Public Affairs Bureau.

"It is what the government of Alberta is doing, what the departments aredoing in conjunction with the people who work in the departments and thepoliticians because that is the sort of system we have set up in this

province, and in this country."

The bureau also maintains a website exclusively for Tory MLAs --www.govmembers.ioner.com -- at which they can get updated "talkingpoints". It requires a confidential code to enter.

It's not known how much the manual and website cost to produce andmaintain.


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The manual and the website provide more proof the line between the Toryparty and what is supposed to be an apolitical bureaucracy has beeneliminated by the Klein government, say the professors, who reviewed acopy of the confidential manual obtained by The Journal.

"There is a line between public business and partisan business," saidDavid Taras, a University of Calgary communications professor. "This isnot only over the line, it is way over the line. In fact, there is no line and Imean a moral and ethical line. It's gone completely."

Etmanski insisted there is a "total separation" between the Conservativeparty and the Public Affairs Bureau. She said neither the party, nor Klein,tells the bureau to produce the manual, which has been published foryears and is updated annually. She acknowledged, however, that GordonTurtle, the bureau's current head, was formerly the premier'scommunications director and is her boss.

The Public Affairs Bureau produced this year's version of the manual inadvance of the release of the government's budget in February during thelegislature's spring sitting. The 184-page manual contains 20 sections ofso-called "key messages" -- also called "talking points" in political parlance-- for every government department, from Aboriginal Affairs throughEducation and Environment, to Seniors and Sustainable Resources.

The key messages are produced to ensure Tory MLAs and theirspokespeople all make the same, unified statements to the media and to

their constituents, which gives them maximum resonance with the public,the political scientists say.

"These are sound bites for Tory candidates," said Janine Brodie, aUniversity of Alberta political scientist. "That's all this is."

While some sections are produced by bureau staff, others are produced bythe ministers' executive assistants, who are partisan.

"They're all wearing Tory blue," Taras said.

"It's supposed to be non-partisan, but it's simply not. It's very clear that it isspin and torque, and on any given issue someone else could come up withdifferent facts and different perspectives."

Brodie said the manual is meant to prepare government MLAs for thelegislature sittings, public meetings and media interviews.

"The messages are overwhelmingly positive," she said. "The manual is a


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political tool."

Etmanski disagreed with the professors' assessment.

"I'm saying the document is not political," she said. "It's government policy;

it's government decisions."

Etmanski said the information in the manual is objective and non-partisanbecause most of it comes from readily available public sources, such asgovernment press releases and websites produced by the bureau.

But she could not explain why only Tory MLAs have access to the manualand website, nor could she explain why a similar service isn't provided toopposition MLAs.

"I think if they want this kind of information, it's as easily accessible," she

said, "and so this kind of information (in the manual) is used bygovernment MLAs to defend some of the policies of their own governmentand you're never going to get the opposition doing that sort of thing."

Each political party in Alberta is given a budget for partisan research,communications and administration based on its number of elected MLAs.The Conservatives now hold 74 of the 83 legislature seats, the Liberalsfive and the New Democrats two, with two seats vacant. Combining thebudgets of backbench Tory MLAs, the premier's office, the variousministers' offices and their communication staff, the Conservatives haveaccess to nearly $25 million. By contrast, the Liberals have about$730,000 and the New Democrats about $300,000.

The political scientists said that despite the Klein government's massiveadvantage in resources, it still uses the bureau, with its staff of more than130 employees and its nearly $12-million budget, as if it were another armof the PC party.

This imbalance gives the Klein government an unfair advantage and stiflesdemocracy in Alberta, the political scientists say.

"It obviously gives a huge advantage to the governing party," Rose said."One of the essences of democracy is the ability to criticize and haveaccess to all the information that the government has, and this flies in theface of that.

"It certainly dampens the whole spirit of democratic debate and seriousopposition in Alberta. It also makes a mockery of any kind of openness ingovernment."


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Taras said the Klein government's exclusive access to the Public AffairsBureau makes it nearly impossible for the opposition to do its job and electmore members.

"How does the opposition work its way out from under that when the

government has this huge communications machine, funded by taxpayers,that is constantly working to bury its message? It's an avalanche ofinformation all on one side."

Taras said with few resources, the opposition parties are hampered inexposing government misspending and policy weaknesses.

"That in turn means they can't get the kind of media coverage they need toestablish a profile. So that in turn affects the public's perception of howthey're doing their job as opposition parties," Taras said.

Peter McCormick, a University of Lethbridge political scientist, said theKlein government's blatant misuse of the Public Affairs Bureauunderlines the danger to democracy of having one party in power for solong. The Conservatives have ruled Alberta for 34 years.

"Governments always have an advantage, but our system in Alberta isdesigned to re-elect Tory governments and this is just one example of theway that works," McCormick said, adding that some ruling governments inCanada are sensitive to their advantage and make some attempts to befair to opposition parties.

"This government in Alberta would not be on that list," he said.

Etmanski was offended by McCormick's assessment.

"I think that is an insult to Albertans because Albertans are probably thesmartest people in the country," she said, "and if they thought thegovernment wasn't doing the right thing, they would vote them out."

Several professors said Alberta Auditor General Fred Dunn should reviewthe Public Affairs Bureau for its partisan use of taxpayers' money.

McCormick doubted that would happen because provincial auditorsgeneral, unlike their federal counterpart, do not have a tradition ofinvestigating the use of public money for partisan purposes.

Dunn was provided with a copy of the manual. He declined comment,saying he was too busy to review the document.

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