Political parties or candidates are breaking the law if they buy provocative headlines on Internet news sites during election campaigns without declaring the expense and notifying the viewing public, says Elections Canada.
But practically speaking, Canada’s elections watchdog is powerless to detect or sanction the practice.
The observation comes in the wake of a campaign that’s been waged for weeks on the popular Bourque Newswatch news site.
“Election advertising means the transmission to the public by any means during an election period of an advertising message that promotes or opposes a registered party or the election of a candidate,” spokesperson Stephane Bechand of Elections Canada said in a recent interview.
That includes messaging that “takes a position on an issue with which a registered party or candidate is associated.”
Bourque openly advertises its headline service for sale, and on Friday, the top four “news” links on the site all slammed Liberal leader Stephane Dion, along with an unflattering photo. Anti-Dion headlines have been common in recent weeks.
While not speaking about any specific headline, Bechand said the practice is indeed political advertising if it takes place during an election.
As such, the headlines would have to carry a disclaimer stating if they were paid for by a political party or candidate.
Bourque’s business model allows paying clients to have flattering or negative headlines on the Bourque page that links to news stories, blog entries, news releases or anything else the client chooses.
Pierre Bourque, a one-time Liberal party candidate, has not responded to repeated requests for an interview with The Canadian Press.
While there’s nothing to prove the anti-Dion headlines were paid for, it’s difficult to write them off as simply partisan editorial decisions because Bourque’s website has also been posting a series of flattering headlines about the Ontario Liberal party.
One recent top headline shouted: “Daltonmania Sweeps Punjab.” Another trumpeted the Ontario Liberals’ “Awesome Byelection Ads.”
Past and current Bourque clients privately tell The Canadian Press there’s a quid pro quo for advertisers on the site, who can expect flattering headlines and links.
