Ontario pauses 15 government advertising campaigns deemed to be partisan [Video]

More than two dozen television commercials, funded by Ontario taxpayers, were paused during the election period after the province’s auditor general deemed the advertising was “designed to promote the governing party” rather than the province itself.

In December, Auditor General Shelley Spence revealed that the province spent a total of $103.5 million on advertising in the previous year, including commercials highlighting Ontario’s economy.

Much of the language used in the publicly funded ads mirrored talking points used by Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservative Party leading to Spence flagging them as potentially partisan.

“It really was just fostering a positive view of the governing party without providing other information that most ads would have,” Spence said in December.

When Ford called a snap election, and the government entered caretaker mode, Ontario’s top civil servant “paused 15 government advertising campaigns” that had previously been highlighted by the auditor.

“In accordance with …