Liberals spend $3.5M in government advertising in first 4 months

Veterans Affairs spent $2.26M in ads to honour Canada's servicemen and women ahead of Remembrance Day

The Liberal government has spent approximately $3.5 million in advertising since coming into power, with most departments choosing to purchase lower-cost internet advertising over TV ads in prime time.

The government ads were purchased by six departments within the first 100 days of Justin Trudeau's Liberals being sworn into office on Nov. 4, said Michèle LaRose, a media relations spokesperson with Public Services and Procurement Canada in respond to a query by CBC News.

The previous Conservative government spent a total of $68.7 million in advertising in 2014-15.

The Liberals committed in their election platform to ban "partisan" government ads and appoint an advertising commissioner to help the auditor general oversee government advertising.

Veterans Affairs Canada was responsible for the bulk of the new spending and was the only department to spend money on TV ads, with an estimated total media ad buy of $2.26 million.

The department purchased internet, television and out-of-home advertising to honour and remember Canada's servicemen and women in the lead-up to Remembrance Day on Nov. 11.

In its ongoing efforts to recruit new Canadians to join its depleting ranks, National Defence spent an estimated $454,000 on internet advertising to encourage millennials to consider a career in the Canadian Armed Forces.

That also included internet ads "to recruit for various specialized positions in the Forces," LaRose said.

With the government committed to resettling 25,000 Syrian refugees by March 1, the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship purchased internet advertising at an estimated cost of $389,750 to urge Canadians to welcome Syrian refugees to Canada.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/government-ads-liberals-1.3455529