Tories vow to clean up government polling

Last Updated: Tuesday, January 3, 2006 | 4:38 PM ET

CBC News

The Conservatives would change the way the government does public opinion polling, by making sure it isn't used for partisan politics and that the results of that work can be seen by the taxpayers, Leader Stephen Harper said on Tuesday.

"Taxpayers have a right to see what the government has done with their money," Harper said.

Speaking in Quebec City on Tuesday, Harper outlined his party's plan to clean up government public opinion research by opening up all contracts to competitive bidding and demanding that the results of all such work is contained in written reports.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper displays a briefcase in Quebec City Tuesday containing $132,000, the amount spent by the Liberal government on a specific advertising contract. (CP Photo/Paul Chiasson)

Harper said that the auditor general's report that identified many of the problems in the sponsorship program also found similar problems with the way the Liberal government has done its polling. But Prime Minister Paul Martin excluded polling from the Gomery commission's terms of reference.

The auditor general's concerns included the use of public money for partisan polling, and that many contracts only demanded verbal reports.

"That's right: verbal reports," Harper said. "Reports that cannot be accessed through access to information, reports that cannot be assessed in value for money audits."

To illustrate his point, Harper, with an armed security guard nearby, stood in front of a briefcase overflowing with $132,000 in party funds. He said this was the cost of a report done for the department of Indian Affairs. Holding up an empty file folder, Harper said the report was oral, not written so there is no actual document.

"No report you can access, no report that can be audited, nothing. That is not value for money and it has to stop," Harper said.

The Finance Department, while Martin was minister, awarded eight research projects to Earnscliffe Strategy Group, Harper said, and only three of them resulted in written reports. Harper suggested that as much as $750,000 was spent, for which the government has nothing to show, because the final reports were only verbal.

"It's always been awfully convenient for Mr. Martin to set up a commission that investigates, essentially, his political opponents within the Liberal party but not necessarily his own actions where they may have been dubious," Harper said.

Harper said he would order an independent review of the problems regarding government polling found by the auditor general.

Harper also said he will forbid using taxpayers money for partisan polls.

The second half of the campaign opened up with the Conservatives climbing in various polls published on Tuesday.

Harper fired his latest salvo on the Liberal corruption issue in Quebec, where his party continues to lag far behind and where the accountability issue plays particularly well.

Improving government accountability is one of five priorities Harper set out for his government, should he win the Jan. 23 vote. His list also includes cutting the GST, cracking down on gun crime, offering parents of small children a child-care allowance and setting standards for wait times for health services.