Download Briefing Note - House of Assembly

House of Assembly Management Commission
Briefing Note
Title:
Advertising
Issue:
Clarification with respect to the forms of acceptable advertising
Background:

The Members’ Resources and Allowances Rules (the Rules) are scheduled to the
House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act (the Act) and
come into force on October 9, 2007. The Commission is authorized under
Subparagraph 20(6)(b)(i) of the Act to issue directives “interpreting, clarifying or
amplifying the rules”.

Under Part IV of the Rules related to Office Allowances , advertising is an
acceptable expense if the expense satisfies subsection 24(i), which states:
A member may claim against the office operations and supplies allowance
for reimbursement to cover operational costs of operating a constituency
office including…
(i)

advertising, including constituency office hours, contact telephone numbers
for the member, email addresses, notices of constituency meetings, and
advertising messages of welcome or congratulation…
Within the Green Report, there is the underlying principle that “the overriding
determination of the acceptability of a particular expenditure is not its type but its
purpose.” Expenditures must be for a proper purpose and a purpose in line with the
spirit of the allowance regime. Only advertising which meets the requirements of
subsection 24(i) will be claimable against the office operations and supplies
allowance. However, while the expense may be advertising, the purpose behind
such an expense must not be to provide a donation by other means, as donations are
prohibited under Paragraph 46(4)(e) of the Rules.

Some ambiguity may be common when it comes to interpreting certain types of
advertising expenses that were commonly incurred by Members prior to the
implementation of the Green Report recommendations.
For example,
Are ads in community booklets (which are essentially programs for events) or radio
ads for these events acceptable? This would include events such as school plays,
concerts, CLB, community festivals, garden parties, Come Home Year events, etc.
These ads would essentially say something like: "congratulations to the CLB on its
anniversary"; “welcome to Come Home Year”; etc.

At first glance, advertising in a booklet or on radio for an event which outlines these
items would satisfy subsection 24(i) (quoted above) and be claimable. However,
one must go a step forward to determine whether the placement of such information
is in fact an advertisement. If such booklets are used for fundraising it could be
argued that parties who place “advertisements” are indirectly making a donation, as
the primary reason for such booklets is to generate donations from the community.
Such expenses would appear to fall into the “donations” category. Therefore it
could be argued that it is not an advertisement in the true sense of the word and
therefore would not be covered by section 24(i).
Alternatively, if such a booklet was for a profit oriented organization and all parties
placing advertisements were paying a required monetary fee then one could argue it
is not a donation but a valid form of advertisement.

The essence of the issue is ensuring that the purpose of such advertisements is not to
use an indirect method of making donations. The purpose behind the advertisement
must be to provide constituents the Member’s contact information, but it may also
provide messages of welcome or congratulations. Therefore, the costs of the
advertisement should be the reasonable costs for such advertisements and should not
be inflated such that it could be perceived to be a donation.
Action Required:

It is recommended that the Commission issue the following directive:
Directive:
[(Rules – Subsection (24)(i)]
Pursuant to subsection 20(6)(b)(i) of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and
Administration Act and in relation to section 24(i) of the Members’ Resources and Allowances
Rules, the Commission hereby makes the following clarification with respect to advertisements:

The purpose behind any advertising expenses shall be solely to assist Members to
convey contact information along with advertising messages of welcome or
congratulations

Advertising expenses claimed by a Member shall be supported by the original
invoice. Members must keep the supporting documentation, such as sample copies
of the product received and/or distributed and transcripts of the radio or television
communication, on file for inspection by the Office of the Clerk.
Drafted by: Marlene Lambe
August 25, 2007
Approved by:
Wm. MacKenzie