MCGUINTY OWES TAXPAYERS $2 MILLION
Runciman calls for Liberal Party to repay money spent on misleading wait times ad
(Queen’s Park) – Progressive Conservative House Leader Bob Runciman today called on Dalton McGuinty to have the Liberal Party repay Ontario taxpayers for a $2 million wait times advertising campaign that has been found to be false advertising by an independent watchdog group.
“Dalton McGuinty’s wait times ads were found to be in violation of the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards,” said Runciman. “That is a serious breach and proof the McGuinty Liberals will say anything to get elected. Dalton McGuinty should immediately have his Liberal Party repay Ontario coffers for this misleading advertising.”
Runciman pushed Dalton McGuinty to apologize and repay the Treasury for the $2 million wait times ad campaign in the Legislature today. His comments follow an Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) ruling last week that said the ads should not be on the air. The group said the ads “raised expectations that remained unsatisfied,” “made inaccurate claims,” and “omitted relevant information, contrary to…the Code.”
The ASC ruling comes after the Auditor-General stated in his annual report that the data contained on the McGuinty Liberals’ wait times website was “misleading” and needed to be “taken with a grain of salt.” Similar to his response to the Auditor’s Report, the Health Minister downplayed the ASC ruling last week, even though the Ontario government is one of 170 members of the independent advertising industry watchdog.
