Campaigning on the public dime.

It would seem that the Tories just cant stop using public institutions to run their campaign. In this instance, a member of the Chinook Health Region board ran an advertisement for the local Tory, as a board member. Now at first blush this isn't surprising since the regional health boards in Alberta are appointed by the government and are Alberta's version of the senate, a place to reward party hacks. However, the regional health boards are public institutions, payed for by the taxpayer and as such have no place campaigning for any particular party.

Now the Chinook Health Region has published an advertisement distancing itself from Ms. Bier's advertisement, as it should. What I find interesting is the muzzle the government has put on most civil servants doesn't apparently apply to regional health board members that support the Tories. It's up to the minister of health to decide if Ms. Bier gets to keep her job, and since her only transgression was supporting a Tory as an agent of the government, I suspect nothing will be done. I also suspect that if she had endorsed a candidate of a different party that she'd be unemployed right now.

So what you have to wonder is: Why do the Tories, with a mulit-million dollar war chest, need to spend taxpayer dollars to campaign? Are they getting so desperate that they'll do anything to stay in power? Also, where are all the Tory supporters who were howling when the federal Liberals did the same thing? It's awfully quiet out there in Tory land...