Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to Motion No. M-97. The intent of this motion is to encourage political parties to refrain from using the likeness or name of an individual in advertising without first obtaining the written consent of the individual.
While this motion is fraught with some flaws in terms of implementation and enforceability, the wording of the motion is nebulous enough that it can serve as a means to encourage parties to refrain from that type of negative action. It would not constrain unnecessarily or create some sort of regulatory burden that would be excessive, oppressive and unenforceable.
The use of someone's likeness in an advertisement is an issue far larger than political parties and should be addressed with some study relative to advertising regulations and marketing in general. It raises some ethics questions. Someone's name or likeness should not be used in an advertisement not just for a political party but for virtually anything without their written consent. This is something the House should consider.
The motion focuses solely on political parties and on political advertisements but I think there are wider and broader issues involved. Companies that manufacture any product should not use somebody's name, image or likeness without some type of written approval first. The reference to a person's likeness is vague in the motion and I have some concerns about that.
In my opinion the motion is vague. It basically urges parties in this House to refrain from this type of advertising. We would do well to support the motion because it sends out a message.
There is a more fundamental issue relative to political advertising as it has evolved, particularly over the last 10 years. There is an ever increasing level of nastiness and negativity in political advertising. Much of it emanated from political campaigns in the U.S.
The first example was when George Bush beat Mike Dukakis for the U.S. presidency. At that time Willie Horton ads were used. Willie Horton was released from the Massachusetts penitentiary system. He committed murder, rape or some other heinous crime. The ad was used against Mike Dukakis and had a significant impact. This was the first use of such overtly negative advertising. Since then there has been an ever increasing level of negative ads.
In the last federal election many Canadians were appalled, shocked and disappointed with the ads that one party ran. The ads showed the faces of Quebec political leaders with crosses marked over them. This implied that in some way one's origin in this great country should have an impact as to whether or not others should vote for that individual. These were very negative ads, particularly in the national unity context which is so precarious. In the national unity context, for a party to run those types of negative and incendiary ads that were aimed purely at political leaders from Quebec I thought was very inappropriate, irresponsible and unfair.
A broader issue that is not addressed in this motion but perhaps should be in the future would be the negativity of political advertising. The motion could be broadened to look at other products as well. I do not want to make political parties commodities any more than I fear they already have become, but we should be looking at something to that effect.
We should also be cognizant of the trends that are occurring in political advertising and organizing. Increasingly political consultants and organizers are becoming almost corporatized. There has been a growth in the political organization industry. Ultimately that will come at a cost. The cost will be the level of authority and power that traditional grassroots organizations have. In the future it is going to be more and more difficult for political parties and individual constituency associations to run the campaigns.
In the whole electoral process it seems that increasingly elections are being fought more by consultants, spin doctors, pollsters, media advisers and less by constituency organizations, poll captains and the like as was traditionally done in the past. That is not without its risks in terms of the strength of the grassroots democracy we all value.
I commend the hon. member for having brought forward this motion. I do not see a downside to supporting the motion. It sends out a sound message to political parties. It does not unnecessarily constrain political parties with any sort of oppressive regulatory burden or sanctions. It sends out a worthy message. I believe the motion should be supported.
I wish all members of the House a very enjoyable, safe and restful summer. I look forward to seeing them in the fall as we continue the important deliberations of building a Canada that will be prosperous and fair for all Canadians into the 21st century.