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Conservatives accused of re-branding Canada Tory blue

Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett thinks the Conservatives are trying re-brand Ottawa into their own image.

For starters, the long-time Liberal MP is irked by the Conservatives' use of the term "Harper government" instead of "Canadian government" when issuing press releases.

Bennett recently tabled an order paper asking the government how many departments, agencies and Crown corporations had issued press releases with the words "Harper Government" and how much their promotion had cost taxpayers.

The answer came back last week:

Over the course of the past six years, 37 government agencies have issued more than 988 official press releases using the term the "Harper Government" at a cost of more than $86,138.

Bennett argues that the term "Harper Government" blurs the line between a political party and the machinery of government.

"This is very very concerning," she told the Huffington Post.

"It's about a person, it's about a party, it's not about something that the Government of Canada is moving on."

The Conservatives, however, insist there's no conspiracy afoot to rebrand the Canadian government as the Harper government.

" 'Harper Government' and 'Government of Canada' are both factually accurate," PMO spokesperson Andrew MacDougall told Yahoo! Canada News, adding that provincial governments across the country also use different variations to identify themselves.

"There is no concerted effort. Some departments use the term, others don't."

But Bennett's complaints don't end there -- she's also concerned about the Tories' liberal use of the colour blue.

"It's the branding of the websites and how blue is everywhere now and all this subliminal messaging," she told the Huffington Post.

"I mean to the point that they have gotten rid of all the red and green lights at Christmas time and we have blue and orange lights. What's with blue and orange Christmas lights all over Parliament Hill? There has been a serious effort in rebranding Canada blue."

While Bennett's comments may have some merit, they are a little ironic coming from a member of a party who surreptitiously used the colour red when they were in power.

To this day, many Conservatives accuse the Grits of promoting their brand in 1965 when Liberal prime minister Lester Pearson chose a Liberal red and white flag.

It seems, almost 50 years later, the colour wars continue.