Government MPs more likely to announce government grants

Eighty per cent of government MPs announced grants and investments in their ridings against only 30 per cent of opposition MPs, an analysis of 2013 public releases has found.

Every year the Canadian government gives out millions of dollars in grants and funds for a huge variety of projects across the country. For instance, it helps fix bathrooms in public skating rinks, builds new elevators for womens shelters and supports the reenactment of famous battles.

This federal money is spent across Canada, but when it comes to handing out the big cheques, the honour usually falls to the area Member of Parliament. An analysis of 2013 public news releases reveals that if that MP is from the governing party, theres a much higher probability of these announcements being public. If its an opposition riding, theres barely a mention.

The data was gathered from MP websites and government releases.

• Opposition ridings receive lion's share of FedNor funding

For Duff Conacher, board member of advocacy group Democracy Watch, there could be a trend the government may be investing more in Conservative ridings.

"Governments do this kind of thing, directing funding to ridings they barely won or are trying to win, that is known," he said. "In terms of grants, subsidies to business, to open factories (...) there could be a pattern of a disproportionate amount going to Conservative ridings."

A request to the Prime Minister's Office for comment was not returned.

Charlie Angus, MP for Timmins-James Bay, was one of the few NDP MPs who had information about government investments in his riding available on his website. He thinks the problem is also with the way government discloses public spending information, including for MPs.

"It's part of my job to update people on programs coming into the riding," he said. "What you have is a standard practice of government, the Liberals did the same thing. They have a bunch of backbenchers that they send off with paper cheques to take credit for every possible dime that comes into their ridings."

But Angus said it's not always clear to members that the money has been spent in opposition ridings. He said while the government makes sure its MPs know about spending in their constituencies, opposition MPs are kept in the dark.

In January, Conservative MP Paul Calandra, parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister, needled Angus about his disclosure of government spending.

"Over the holidays, (Angus) issued a press release outlining the number of investments we have made in his riding. I congratulate him for recognizing that. Unfortunately, he voted against all of those investments, but we will continue to invest in northern Ontario to create jobs and economic growth in the area," he said in the House on Jan. 27.

Where's the invitation?

Kennedy Stewart, NDP MP for Burnaby-Douglas, agrees that the information is hard to get.

"It's difficult to get a handle on that. Often public spending is not broken down by riding," he said. "I have the Simon Fraser University in my riding, and government ministers come often to announce government spending in my riding (...) and they won't invite me for the announcement. It's the kind of era we're in, politically. It's part of the climate in Ottawa."

Angus said the lack of information is a reflection of the government's attitude.

"They think people are stupid. They think people can be sold on the measure that any money coming from the government belongs to the political party, and they give it to you because they are being nice to you. That is simply false," he said.

Conacher expects well be seeing more accountability in the near future.

"The pressure is very much on, for more transparency," Conacher said. "The expectations of the public are increasing. Because of the excessive and unjustified secrecy of the Conservatives, the opposition parties are highlighting this issue.

"There will be a real competition among the opposition parties in the next election in terms of having the strongest platform for government transparency. They won't necessarily keep all their promises if elected, but only promising it already raises expectations."

Pedro Vasconcellos is a 4th-year journalism student at Carleton University in Ottawa. This story is part of a project by the Carleton School of Journalism on federal spending announcements in 2013.