Harper Government Advertises Non-Existent Jobs Program

The Harper government has recently paid for advertising spots during playoff hockey to promote a new economic action plan project: the Canada Jobs grant. The jobs grant, however, does not in fact exist.

A closer inspection of the commercial (which cost up to $90,000 per 30 second spot) reveals some fine print stating that the Canada Jobs Grant is subject to parliamentary approval. The grant at this stage is nothing more than a “concept of how it would work” that “needs to be fleshed out,” according to Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan.

The Canada Jobs Grant webpage states that it expects provincial governments and private businesses to contribute $5000 per trainee. Several provincial governments have already expressed hesitations over the program. The premiers of the four Atlantic provinces voiced their concerns in a joint letter, expressing doubts about “the ability of small and medium-sized businesses to participate in the program.”

Human resource officials for the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia have criticized the proposed structure of the grant in that it allows the federal government to encroach on provincial jurisdiction. The current proposal involves re-negotiating labour agreements, which would expand the federal government’s ability to dictate job development priorities in the provinces.

The parliamentary secretary for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Kellie Leitch, has defended the Harper government’s decision to buy expensive advertising spots for the contested grant program. Leitch has said that the commercials ensure that workers and employers are informed about the grants available for skill development.

The New Democrats have critiqued the ad campaign from an ethical standpoint, stating that it is wrong to spend taxpayer dollars to promote a program that has not been brought before the House of Commons yet.

In response Leitch has called the opposition to “get on board” with this program. It is not clear what secretary Leitch means, however, given that there is no program to support yet. Nothing will be tabled until Fall at the earliest.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has also defended the decision, calling the Conservative government’s advertising strategy “reasonable.”

Liberals have attacked the Conservative’s ad spending, saying that it is money that could be used to fund summer employment for students, which is sorely needed as youth unemployment is double the national rate.

Jim Flaherty responded by saying that the economic action plan advertisements are worth it and that the ads are being run because “Canadians are entitled to know what their government is up to.” The excuse that the Harper government is running the ad campaign for the sake of transparency doesn't quite hold water if one considers that it is announcing dollar and employment projections for a program that still needs to be tabled and negotiated.

The Conservative government has already spent over $113 million on economic action plan advertisements since 2009.

Many of the economic action plan ads promote programs that are defunct as of the latest budget.

No numbers have been released concerning the recent Jobs Grant ads but with each spot costing $90,000 that number is climbing quickly with each passing playoff game.

Image Credit: Wiki Commons, World Economic Forum