Mr. Speaker, the previous communications policy of the Government of Canada, which included policy requirements related to Government of Canada advertising, did not change during the six-month period up to and including April 22, 2016.
On May 12, 2016, the new policy on communications and federal identity and the directive on the management of communications came into effect. The new policy instruments include a number of new policy requirements related to advertising including a definition of “non-partisan communications” for all government communications. Furthermore, the policy now prohibits government programs and initiatives that require parliamentary approval from being advertised until approval has been received. The policy also states that no advertising activities can take place 90 days before a fixed general federal election date.
All federal government advertising with a budget greater than $500,000 is subject to a mandatory external review by Advertising Standards Canada, which will conduct a thorough assessment of proposed advertisements in line with the new policy and its definition of “non-partisan”. These reviews will be published online.
Advertising Standards Canada will ensure that advertisements are objective, factual, and explanatory; free from political party slogans, images, identifiers, bias, designation, or affiliation; not using the primary colour associated with the governing party in a dominant way, unless an item is commonly depicted in that colour; devoid of any name, voice, or image of a minister, member of Parliament, or senator; and initiatives that require parliamentary approval or trade agreements that require ratification are not advertised until such approval has been received.
The government has asked the Office of the Auditor General to conduct an audit of this review mechanism and his office will determine its scope and timing.