GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: My question is also for the Premier. When in opposition, Dalton McGuinty said he was against spending public money on partisan advertising, but records released as a result of freedom-of-information requests show that you paid $700,000 to Narrative Advocacy Media, a firm closely connected to the Liberal-friendly ad firm Bensimon Byrne. The auditor rejected Narrative Advocacy's work, saying the primary objective of their ads was to promote the partisan interests of the McGuinty Liberals.

So my question is for the Premier. Will the McGuinty Liberals pay back the $700,000 of public money that they spent for their own version of the Liberal Party Adscam?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: To the Minister of Revenue.

Hon. John Wilkinson: Happy Family Day to all. Glad to see us all back.

I've had an opportunity as Minister of Revenue to crisscross this province, and what people are asking me is, where's a good place they can go to find the information that they need to know about how tax reform-the largest tax reform in 40 years-affects them, their family and their business?

As a result, our ministry has created a website at ontario.ca/taxreform, and just last week we started an advertising campaign telling people they should take a closer look. That's why we are running those ads, because people are telling me that they need to find that information. That's why it's important that we will always share with the good people of Ontario where that accurate information is.

It's important for us to always make sure that any government advertising is approved by the Auditor General. We're proud to have brought in that bill, and we'll continue-

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I can tell you what Ontario families are telling me. It's bad enough that you use tax dollars to promote a tax, but you use public money to also promote your own Ontario Liberal Party-

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Start the clock.

Please continue.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Thanks, Mr. Speaker.

They used tax dollars to promote a tax, but what is worse, they use public money to promote the Ontario Liberal Party. They handed over $700,000 to a Liberal-friendly ad firm, Narrative Advocacy, whose Amanda Alvaro has close ties to Gerard Kennedy and is connected to their good friends at Bensimon Byrne. The fact that the advertisements did not run is not the point. It doesn't change the fact that they wasted taxpayer money. Why do they keep wasting taxpayer dollars that are earned by hard-working Ontario families so that they can give their friends in the Ontario Liberal Party our tax dollars?

Hon. John Wilkinson: As I was mentioning, our tax reform is all about creating new jobs, and I thought the questions today would be about the need for our economy to generate more jobs. By merging our sales taxes and taking that additional revenue and permanently cutting taxes for both people and business, we're creating a new competitive environment that will allow for additional investment-some $47 billion, according to a leading economist, that will lead to 591,000 net new jobs.

But what I find interesting is that the member is raising this issue when today, when I had a chance to look at your website, I see that it is inaccurate. That is exactly why people need to have a place that they can go to where the information is accurate. They can take a closer look and examine how tax reform impacts them, their family and their business as we prepare for a year of tax reform, which started on January 1 with a tax cut to 93% of Ontario-