According to the research or briefing note that our researchers have prepared for us, British Columbia and Nova Scotia forbid the use of pictures from the legislature in party advertising, during an election campaign or in any other partisan political activity. Australia does so too, except if the member whose image is portrayed gives express written permission.
Mr. Angus' comments are important. We have already heard of one clearly defamatory advertisement made by one candidate against a member who was also a candidate. It was not on a website. The advertisement come out on the weekend before the day of the election. Luckily, the member got wind of it and was able to obtain an interlocutory injunction from a court, and so on. With the new ways of communicating, if that advertisement had been posted on YouTube,
Forget about it, it's already been blasted. God knows how many places, how many people have taken it and then put it up on their website, their own Facebook, or whatever.
So I come back to your best advice as to whether there's been any challenge of British Columbia's and Nova Scotia's prohibition of the use of the material by political parties in their advertising election campaign or other political partisan activity. And if there has not, what is your best advice, Mr. Walsh, as a jurist, as to the wisdom of keeping this section in your proposed generic notion, but possibly adding “unless it's with the express advice of the member”. Because some members may wish to do their own, or they may wish to authorize their party to do something that has their image in it and they don't have a problem with it. But that would need to be expressed.