When election advertising crosses the line

Imagine runners leaping from their starting blocks long before the referee whistles the start of the race.

Well, that’s exactly what the political parties have been doing by unpacking their advertisements since May already, when the campaign for the October 3 elections will not be launched until the last days of August.

Both the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) and the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) are betting on the “real world” to sing the praises of their leader, with mixed results to say the least.

Dominique Anglade who appears in the middle of a field, like Jinny coming out of her bottle in the famous TV show, to highlight her regional charter alongside a grower… how can I put it? It’s a bit clunky.

But what is talking these days is above all the CAQ’s advertisement featuring a woman of almost 80 years old saying with unshakable conviction how much she appreciates François Legault. If the trend continues, the capsule which has already been parodied by comedian Arnaud Soly on social networks could be found at the next bye Bye.

What’s less funny is that the woman in question only received a meager $250, according to her daughter ($500, according to the CAQ), for her participation in this ad, in the form of an arranged vox pop with the views guy. The CAQ claims that she would have refused compensation, but that the production team insisted on giving her this “symbolic” sum. Except that a stamp of $ 10,000 would not have been disproportionate, according to experts.

The controversy surrounding the cachet of this woman will at least have made it possible to shine the spotlight on the serious stakes posed by these pre-election advertisements for the health of our democracy.

The situation has changed since elections are held on a fixed date in Quebec, the first Monday in October, every four years. This system has the advantage of ensuring equity between the political parties, whereas previously only the party in power knew the time of the elections in advance. An undeniable strategic asset.

But the new system also has drawbacks, as seen in the first fixed-date elections in 2018. Knowing what to expect, political parties got ahead of themselves, multiplying their expenses for pre-election advertising.

This strategy allowed them to happily circumvent the rules of the game. It should be noted that in Quebec, the advertising expenses of political parties are limited during the election campaign.

As for individuals or companies, they have no right at all to inject money into advertising during the campaign. This rule, one of the strictest in the world, limits freedom of expression. But it is the price to pay to ensure that the power of money does not influence our democracy. The courts have confirmed this.

The problem is that individuals and companies have absolutely no rules to follow outside of the electoral campaign, which opens the door to many abuses. To get to the bottom of it, the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec is calling for the establishment of a register to which individuals and businesses that carry out pre-election advertising should register.

This is the minimum we can do!

At the federal level and in many provinces, election spending is limited several months before polling day, and not only from the start of the campaign. This is true as much for political parties as for companies or individuals.

What are we waiting for to do the same? Quebec must ensure that all runners start at the same time in the race. And don’t let anyone get ahead of themselves to circumvent ad spend limits.