Under heavy pressure from the Liberal opposition, Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed today in Question Period that his party will cease its abuse of the House of Commons “ten-percenter” printing and mailing privileges by no longer sending attack-mail into other ridings.
“After 24 hours of flip-flopping back and forth on this matter, we finally have a commitment from the Prime Minister that his party will stop this practice,” said Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale. “This is a good day for Canadian taxpayers, since it will cut $20 million in wasteful spending and stop the Conservatives’ cynical smear tactics.”
Conservative MPs accounted for 62 percent of ten-percenter printing costs in 2008-09, compared to 16 percent for the Liberals. Upon passage of a binding motion in the House of Commons yesterday, the Liberal Party immediately suspended the printing of ten-percenters for unheld ridings and cancelled those that had not already been printed.
It is now up to the Board of Internal Economy to work out how to best implement the motion.
“It took pressure from Parliament before the government realized that Canadians were fed up with their money being used to fund Conservative slander,” said Mr. Goodale. “This is a victory for all who want to see an honest debate of ideas instead of cheap-shot politics, which means better government in the long run.”
