Ontario ad campaign 'It's Happening Here' has cost taxpayers $8M

An advertising campaign by Premier Doug Ford's government that has been criticized as partisan selfpromotion is costing tax‐ payers about $8 million, CBC News has learned.

Government officials pre‐ viously refused to share the cost of the high-profile "It's Happening Here" ads, which have aired in such choice television timeslots as the Su‐ per Bowl, the Oscars, the Em‐ my Awards and the NHL allstar game.

CBC News then sought to obtain the price tag through a freedom of information re‐ quest.

The response from the Ministry of Finance puts the estimated total costs for pro‐ ducing the ads at $3,831,352, and the media spending (such as TV and radio airtime, billboard space and online ad placement) at $4,097,528.

Critics are blasting the Ford government for spend‐ ing public money on advertis‐ ing that they say doesn't pro‐ vide the public with useful in‐ formation.

"Governments shouldn't be spending taxpayer dollars trying to puff themselves up or convince people that they're doing a great job," said NDP leader Marit Stiles in an interview.

WATCH | The 60-second version of the Ontario gov‐ ernment's new TV ad:

The ads tout Ontario as "a place where it's all happen‐ ing" and list off government accomplishments such as "building new roads and highways."

Stiles accuses the govern‐ ment of gaslighting the pub‐ lic with the ad campaign's messaging.

"It's really outrageous that the government would choose to spend this kind of money on what are essential‐ ly partisan ads to convince Ontarians that things are OK when they really aren't," she said.

Ford government promised to reverse rule change

Provincial law used to prohib‐ it the government from run‐ ning such advertising cam‐ paigns.

Under then-premier Dal‐ ton McGuinty, the Liberals brought in the Government Advertising Act in 2004, which gave the auditor gen‐ eral responsibility for approv‐ ing ad campaigns.

That law banned ads if their primary purpose was "to foster a positive impres‐ sion of the governing party."

But in 2015, the govern‐ ment of then-premier Kath‐ leen Wynne watered down the law, allowing the govern‐ ment to put just about any messaging in taxpayer-fun‐ ded ads, so long as they don't use the names or faces of a politician or a party logo.

Ford's Progressive Conser‐ vatives made an election promise in 2018 to reverse the changes to the advertis‐ ing rules, but the Ford gov‐ ernment hasn't kept that promise.

Instead, the government has since spent at least $38 million on ads that the audi‐ tor said would not have been approved under the earlier version of the law, including a 2019 ad campaign attack‐ ing the federal carbon price and a campaign that aired in the run-up to the 2022 provincial election called "Ontario Is Getting Stronger".

That's in addition to the $7.9 million price tag for the new "It's Happening Here" campaign.

'Not a good use of tax‐ payer money': former auditor

CBC News asked the govern‐ ment whether the cost figure covers the entirety of the on‐ going campaign or only the amount spent so far. Officials did not provide an answer.

"Marketing is a tool that all governments at all levels and of all partisan stripes use to communicate messages to people," said a spokesperson for Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy in an email. "The campaign is designed to instill pride in the many ac‐ complishments of Team On‐ tario and confidence in the province's economy."

Former auditor general Bonnie Lysyk says the ads are "not a good use of tax‐ payer money" because they don't serve the purpose of in‐ forming the public about how to access government programs or services.

"It's basically an ad that would pat the government on its back," said Lysyk in an interview. "Partisan advertis‐ ing is fine. But the issue is, should the taxpayer pay for it? It should be be paid for by the governing party or oppo‐ sition parties."

On Monday, the legis‐ lature is expected to consider

a bill from the NDP that would bring back the stricter rules barring all forms of publicly funded partisan ad‐ vertising.

The NDP bill is word-forword identical to a bill that Sylvia Jones (now Ford's health minister and deputy premier) tabled when she and the PCs were in opposi‐ tion in 2018.

"We're going to force a vote on Monday on that bill to see if we can get the gov‐ ernment to do what they al‐ ways said they were going to do and ban this kind of parti‐ san advertising with govern‐ ment dollars," said Stiles.