Mr. Speaker, this month a news release from the Western Economic Diversification Fund crossed my desk announcing a grant of $39 million. The final line of the release said: "This announcement is an example of how this government is prioritizing its spending so that it can better serve Canadians by making efficient use of their tax dollars".
I inquired about that statement. I discovered that the Privy Council Office has ordered this sentence to be placed at the end of every government news release having to do with funding. Since when is this kind of partisan statement news? This is nothing more than political advertising. Decrees of this type insult the civil service, forcing it to ignore impartiality.
For the sake of the morale in the public service, I ask the government to rescind this order immediately, leave the political rhetoric where it belongs: in the dusty unread portions of its own little red book and not foisted upon our independent civil service.
Spending of this kind has brought our national debt now to $532,956,930,422.47.