Gallant government launches ads to promote nursing home changes
The Gallant government has launched a $30,000-advertising campaign to promote its changes to nursing home policy, which have generated widespread criticism from seniors' groups and others in recent weeks.
The taxpayer-funded ads, labelled "Get the Real Facts on Nursing Home Costs," lays out which assets will and will not be considered when the provincial government assesses a senior's ability to pay for nursing home care.
"This is not advertising, but information," Social Development Minister Cathy Rogers told a legislative committee on Tuesday.
"We are putting out the information to alleviate the fears of seniors who have been provided with a lot of misinformation," she said.
The Liberals are raising the cap on the daily nursing home fee to $175 from $113, but say only seniors who can afford to pay more will do so.
And seniors in some income groups will actually pay less — something the ad campaign points out.
The ad also notes that houses, cottages, and cash from the sale of a senior's last home will not be included in the calculation of the ability to pay. "The things that matter most … are still not included," the ad states.
Rogers fielded questions about the campaign on Tuesday, while explaining her departmental spending estimates before a legislative committee. She said the campaign was developed by the executive council office and will be billed to her department.
Bill would have restricted 'political' advertising
Less than a year ago, Brian Gallant, then-leader of the Opposition, denounced taxpayer-funded advertising by the then-Progressive Conservative government of David Alward, promoting controversial reforms to public service pensions.
"The Alward government is at it again, wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on new TV ads trying to gain political support for its pension reform," Gallant said in a June 2014 news release.
"There is no public benefit to these ads. This is all about the Alward government using taxpayer dollars in a clear attempt to help improve their chances in the fall election."
The Tory government also ran full-page newspaper ads promoting its forestry strategy last May.
And in 2013, it used taxpayer dollars to buy ads showing New Brunswick workers leaving for Alberta — part of its strategy to promote shale gas development in the province.
"This is some type of political narrative they're trying to create," Gallant said at the time.
As Opposition leader, Gallant introduced a bill to restrict so-called political advertising paid for by government.
The bill would have required any advertising promoting government policies to be submitted to the superintendent of political financing for a ruling on whether it was too partisan.
But the bill was not supported by the Progressive Conservative majority in the legislature and didn't pass.
Tory MLA Ernie Steeves says the nursing home ads contradict Gallant's position of a year ago.
"They're paying $30,000 for an ad campaign," he said. "Brian Gallant introduced a bill last year, in March, Bill 46, saying that it was wrong, saying they shouldn't do that, and now he's doing it."
Steeves says the money is a waste because the government has had plenty of opportunities to get its message out. "They have chances every day because we question them about it every day," he said.
"If there's misinformation, it's because their policies were put together at the last minute and spun without any real forethought about how these are going to affect people."
