Ottawa told to quantify use of PM branding

‘Harper government’ used eight times every weekday in releases

OTTAWA — The Conservative government this week was required to quantify its use of the phrase “Harper government” to brand just about everything it does.

December, Liberal MP John McCallum asked the government for a complete list of every news release using the phrase from every department or Crown agency last fall.

The result, tabled this week, was a massive 297-page document with responses from each department.

An Ottawa Citizen analysis of the data shows that between Sept. 21 and Dec. 11, 2012 (when the question was tabled), the federal government sent out 449 press releases in English using the phrase “Harper government.”

That works out to about eight times a government organ issued an official communication branded with the last name of the prime minister for each weekday.

The figure doubles if you include the French version of each release.

Of these 449 press releases, 412 had a title that began “Harper government ...” followed by an action verb such as “helps,” “invests,” “boosts,” “supports,” “appoints,” “highlights,” “encourages,” and “commemorates,” among dozens of others.

Below is a small selection of examples: ❚ Harper government helps gluten-free bakery deliver new product line ❚ Harper government highlights role of east coast privateers in the War of 1812

Ha rpe r gove rnment showcases agriculture at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair

Harper government agreement will bring versatile new oat variety closer to market ❚ Harper government supports the 2012 Women’s Wrestling Championships

Not every department complied with the branding.

The Department of National Defence, for one, said it could find no press releases containing the phrase.

Meanwhile, in what could have been a post-budget typo or a cut-and-paste accident, one government agency briefly on Thursday rebranded the country “Harper Canada.”

A news release from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency that was posted online carried the all-caps headline: “HARPER CANADA INVESTS IN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR MUNICIPALITY OF ARGYLE.”

Agency spokesman Alex Smith said it was simply an editing error, and was promptly corrected — to read “Harper government.”

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Adrian Wyld/ The Canadian Press An analysis by Postmedia News shows that, of 449 news releases issued by the federal government during a two-and-a-half-month period in 2012, 412 had a title that began “Harper government ...”