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N.B. Liberals criticize premier for taxpayer-funded ‘political’ ads

FREDERICTON – The New Brunswick Liberals are accusing Premier David Alward and the Conservatives of playing politics with two taxpayer-funded ads released last year.

The Liberals say the ads are not introducing new information or public policies, but are instead “aimed at helping the narrative of the Conservative election campaign.”

“The first one that they had was very clearly political,” Liberal leader Brian Gallant said. “It was the premier trying to take credit for a project that many New Brunswickers and many people across the country worked on — the Energy East Pipeline.

“The second ad is very simple. They’re trying to fill a narrative of this government.”

The two ads reportedly cost about $227,000 in production and airtime.

Gallant said the Opposition wants to do something about allowing governments to use taxpayers’ money for political campaigning.

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He said he would “have someone oversee any type of ad that is done by the government to judge if it is a partisan political ad.”

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Deputy Premier Paul Robichaud said the ads are not political and were vetted by “our office.”

“There’s no politicians in those ads, there’s no [Progressive Conservative] logos in those ads, there’s no mention of the government in those ads,” he said. “Those ads have been scrutinized and they are not political, and if we do more ads they will not be political.”

The Liberal party says it will announce more about the ads later this week.

Watch the ads being criticized by the New Brunswick Liberal party:

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