Facebook makes it easy to run illegal and ‘Astroturf’ ads, say Canadian digital political strategists

Anonymous and illegal political ad campaigns are probably already running in Canada, thanks in part to Facebook and other online advertising platforms that make it easy to skirt laws around political advertising, say political digital marketing specialists. “If you want to influence around the rules, it’s pretty straightforward to do so,” said Stephen Carter, a […]
“The federal government is reportedly considering changes to digital political advertising rules. What should be done?”
Cameron Ahmad Liberal strategist “Ensuring Canada has tough election financing laws is one way to improve, strengthen, and protect our democratic institutions. Our government is reviewing the limits on the amounts political parties and third parties can spend during elections, and proposing new measures to ensure that spending between elections is subject to reasonable limits […]
Bill to ban unhealthy food ads for kids clears Senate, House sponsor sought

With her bill having passed the Senate last week, Conservative Senator Nancy Greene Raine is now casting about for an MP in the House to champion her legislation banning the advertising of unhealthy food and drinks to children under the age of 17. Bill S-228, the Child Health Protection Act, seeks to change the Food […]
Gender pay gap due to sexism, not women’s poor negotiating skills

OTTAWA—The creative Secret deodorant message is intended to portray a young woman who is standing up for her right to equal pay. Instead, it reinforces the message that the indefensible pay gap between young women and men is the result of poor female negotiating skills. Just last week, the University of Waterloo announced a half-measured […]
Government’s non-partisan ad and communications policy met by cries of partisanship, confusion

The federal government’s new policy on partisan-free advertising and communications unveiled last Thursday, which is intended to provide “clearer and simplified guidance to officials on the conduct of government communications activities,” resulted in miscommunication and confusion within 24 hours of its release. Though the policy is intended to prevent partisan government advertising, it’s not clear […]
Corrections
A caption on page 9 in last week’s issue of The Hill Times incorrectly stated Prime Minister Paul Martin and his wife Sheila bought their Christmas wreath in the ByWard Market. The Prime Minister bought the $240 wreath at Tivoli Florist in Westboro, where Liberal candidate Richard Mahoney was campaigning. * In last week’s Heard […]
Government changing the culture of governance: Brison: Move toward more electronic commerce will also help cut the time it takes to do business
Bernard Courtois, [in] his editorial called “Don’t stall procurement reform”said, and I quote: “Businesses cannot responsibly advocate lower taxes and more efficient government on one hand while demanding that the government spend more than it should to buy products and services.” He went on to say, “We need to get on with it. Stalling procurement […]
What’s up with information technology in government?
AG’s report in 2005 not good “I’m disappointed that the government still does not meet its own minimum standards for IT security, even though most of them have been well known for more than a decade. It means that government systems and the sensitive data they hold are vulnerable to security breaches.This environment provides more […]
10 closest ridings in 2004
1. Western Arctic, N.W.T.: Ethel Blondin- Andrew (Lib) def. Dennis Bevington (NDP) by 53 votes 2. Jeanne-Le Ber, Que.: Liza Frulla (Lib) def.Thierry St-Cyr (BQ) by 72 votes 3. Simcoe-Grey, Ont.: Helena Guergis (Cons) def. Paul Bonwick (Lib) by 100 votes 4. New Westminster-Coquitlam, B.C.: Paul Forseth (Cons) def. Steve McClurg (NDP) by 113 votes […]
PARLIAMENTARY CALENDAR: Ekos’ Graves to look at political landscape
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18 Federal Election 2006: Approaching National Judgment – At the dawn of a national election, the federal political landscape is being fundamentally rethought and reshaped by a battle to define Canada. EKOS Research president Frank Graves will demystify how these conflicting visions sit with Canadians and will look at the evolving structure of […]