To Whom It May Concern, I would like to register a complaint regarding the Ford Nation television program that aired on Sun News Network on the evening of November 18, 2013, at 8 PM. I believe wholeheartedly that this supposed news broadcast was in fact a candidates infomercial for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford that contravened several campaign contribution and advertising statutes. It has been suggested that because it was presented as a news show with ostensible moderators asking questions of the candidate, the broadcast did not qualify as a commercial but rather an informational program that would not contravene campaign statutes. I very much disagree. The interview conducted was in fact a fawning display of incredible bias. To classify this as a news broadcast would be to allow a loophole in which any candidate could campaign at any time and in contravention of equal time and contribution laws simply by having another person in the room lobbing softball questions at him or her. Section 66.(1) of the Municipal Elections Act of Ontario, 1996 defines a campaign contribution as money, goods and services given to and accepted by or on behalf of a person for his or her election campaign. Airtime, studio time, production time, promotional costs, etc. of a weekly hourlong informercial would certainly apply. The questions asked by the news network airing the program were so biased toward the candidate, with no challenging of his stated political record and with slobbery fawning over the mayor (at one point commentator Ezra Levant gave a several-minutes-long monologue attacking Fords ideological enemies and then he stated that hed prefer Ford on crack over his predecessor David Miller sober; at another point Levant likened Ford to the late Princess Diana) that to call this anything but advertising for the campaign would be laughable. In fact, commentator Joe Warmington specifically stated that the program was not an interview but a chat. Thus this was absolutely a campaign contribution by the Acts definition. The question now is to whether this was free political advertising or whether this was a provided service, with a monetary value exceeding the maximum allowable campaign contribution, that was provided for free. Both of these would be in contravention of statutes in the Act. As to the former, section 66.(2), clause (iv) states that the value of political advertising provided without charge on a broadcasting undertaking as defined in section 2 of the Broadcasting Act (Canada), if, A. it is provided in accordance with that Act and the regulations and guidelines made under it, and B. it is provided equally to all candidates for office on the particular council or local board is not a contribution. As far as I know, Sun News has not provided any of the other candidates with their own weekly hourlong show. This is because there are no actual declared candidates at the moment because no one can register to run until next year, thus making this entire enterprise take place illegally outside the campaign period. But well get to that in a moment. The point is this has already proven to be illegal as far as being free political advertising not provided equally. This brings us to the latter interpretation mentioned, which is that this was a campaign contribution of airtime with monetary value to a specific candidate. Again, this would fall outside the campaign period, which as I said well get to shortly. But it would also be hard to argue that a weekly hourlong infomercial does not exceed campaign contribution limits. Section 66.(3) clause (a) defines the value of a good or service as the lowest amount the contributor charges the general public in the same market area for similar goods and services provided at or about the same time. In this case that amount would be the advertising rate for a weekly hourlong infomercial aired during prime time on Sun News Network. Its hard to imagine that the advertising rate for such a service as available to the general public would not exceed the $2500 maximum contribution value allowable from any one entity to a Toronto mayoral candidate. Now, to the issue with the campaign period. Section 70.(2) states that a contribution shall not be made to or accepted by or on behalf of a candidate outside his or her election campaign period. The campaign period is defined as being after the candidate registers to be on the ballot, which cant happen until January. And yet, during the broadcast, several references were made to the election, including a concluding statement by the candidates brother, Doug Ford, that the people should decide to vote for Rob Ford on October 27, 2014, the date of the election, even going so far as to proclaim him the only choice between tax loving people, social elites, and Rob Ford. Furthermore Rob Ford has said on several occasions, including in council chambers, that the campaign has already started. Any program on which a candidate is stumping for himself and also has his brother stumping for him, if, as shown above, said program falls into the category of advertising and/or contributed airtime, by definition constitutes a campaign broadcast which in this case would be occurring illegally well before the candidate is permitted to actually begin campaigning. The only conclusion to be reached here is that Rob Ford broke the law last night. Broke several laws, in fact. The continuation of Ford Nation can not be allowed, as it not only confers an unfair, illegal advantage to Rob Ford, it constitutes a continuation of the lawbreaking already so inherent in the person who still holds the office (if not the powers) of the mayor of Toronto. I implore you to take action immediately toward the stopping of this program from airing again, as well as any appropriate penalties for contravention of the Act. Haste is necessary as the next installment of this commercial is due to air in less than one week. More airings of this illegal broadcast would do further and irreparable harm to the municipal election process. This must be halted. Please keep me informed as to the progress of my complaint. I have heard lately that the City of Toronto is running more efficiently than ever. Because of this I would hope that not only will this matter be dealt with speedily, but that notifying me of steps taken along the way as they happen shouldnt be a major problem. Thank you very much for taking the time to address my complaint,
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 18:02:55 +0000
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