When property owners got their tax bills this year, they included a brochure that an Opposition MLA is calling political propaganda.
Rustico-Emerald MLA Brad Trivers raised the issue during Friday’s question period where he had a copy of the brochure that listed several measures from the latest budget.
Trivers said it was an attempt to influence Islanders.
“The only thing that’s missing from this brochure is the Liberal logo,” he said.
The pamphlet listed details and contact information for several programs, including an increase to childcare subsidies, financial help for post-secondary students and the removal of the provincial portion of the HST on the first block of residential electricity.
All of those measures mentioned were announced as part of the Liberal government’s latest budget.
Trivers said it was a simple strategy for the Liberals.
“Take taxpayer dollars, spend it to simply try to buy their votes in the next election,” he said.
After calling it an election-style brochure, Trivers said the government was blurring the line between public and partisan advertising.
Finance Minister Heath MacDonald saw it differently and said it was important to get the message out to Islanders.
“It’s extremely important that these programs get utilized and we save every cent that we can save for each and every Islander from one end of the Island to the other because that’s the type of government we are,” he said.
The government has used property tax bills in the past to include information about government programs, including an effort to get Islanders to file their tax returns so they could access all federal and provincial programs for which they were eligible.
A spokeswoman for the province said the latest brochure cost the government about $5,500.
