[Jacks]

Lovely

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2352188/

As a Progressive Conservative bus rolls around Alberta with Alison Redford’s face on it, you’d be forgiven for assuming an election campaign is formally under way. Or that this month’s budget – ads for which run regularly on radio stations – has been passed. Or that government money has been steered entirely clear of political party business, as laws in other provinces require.

But none of this is the case in Alberta. With her first election as party leader looming, Ms. Redford’s government is spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on campaign-style events.
..........
There was $100,000 spent on a recent cabinet tour of the province – after several similar tours last year and a leadership campaign in which Ms. Redford zigzagged the province herself for eight months. Critics say it amounted to a whistle-stop campaign tour.Then there was a caucus retreat to Jasper, a mountain getaway that opposition members say amounted to a campaign planning session. Taxpayers footed that bill, too, about $70,000.
And then there’s the $360,000 in government money Ms. Redford’s office says will be spent to buy advertisements promoting her budget on the radio.
..........
Ms. Redford’s staff declined comment Monday, but last week in a committee debate she rejected the criticisms of Mr. Sherman, saying “it’s not about advertising; it’s about communicating and dialoguing with Albertans.”