Teamsters Canada Rail Conference

Cash would be better spent on H1N1 campaign than on economic plan promotion, critics say

Some bleary-eyed Toronto-area commuters are going to get taken for a ride today by Canada's Economic Action Plan express.

The Conservative government has spent more than $46,000 to turn two GO train cars into rolling advertisements along the Lakeshore line for its stimulus spending program, which has been widely criticized for putting image ahead of substance.

The opposition parties have been hammering away at the Conservatives for weeks about wasting money on self-promotion rather than spending scarce public dollars on informing the public about such pressing matters as the H1N1 virus.

"If there was ever a time to advertise on transit this was the time to do it on H1N1, not their economic plan. They missed the opportunity and this affects the health of Canadians," Liberal MP Kirsty Duncan (Etobicoke North) told the Star Thursday.

Duncan, a scientist who wrote a book about her 1998 expedition to uncover the cause of the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, told an earlier news conference the government is "fixated" on promoting itself. "Where is the billboard to tell Canadians how to protect their families against H1N1?"

Government records show at least $34 million has been spent on promoting its Economic Action Plan, which is the title of the Conservatives' January budget.

Liberal party estimates go as high as $60 million.

Faisal Rasheed, of Toronto's WestPalm Media, an advertising firm contracted to sell ads on the provincially owned GO Transit system, said ordinarily the rate to wrap a train car is $75,000 for eight weeks.

Rasheed said the federal government prohibited him from revealing details of the contract, including how many train cars were involved.

Chris Day, spokesman for Transport and Infrastructure Minister John Baird, said the money is well spent, and the deal is for far less than the going rate.

"As part of our advertising campaign to inform Canadians about the Economic Action Plan, we paid $44,000 net (before taxes) to fully cover both sides of two cars on the Lakeshore line ... and as such our innovative ad campaign can be seen for 10 weeks along one of the busiest commuter routes in Canada," Day said. "We think this is good value for Canadian taxpayers."