The Gargoyle: Gallant's 'Save Canada Post' ad irks postal union

[guest]

Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke Conservative candidate Cheryl Gallant has again found herself in troubled waters, this time for newspaper ads her campaign placed that appear to pit her against, well, herself, while also aggravating the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

“ONLY by VOTING for CHERYL GALLANT will you SAVE Canada Post” urges the ad, which fails to mention that it was Gallant and her Tory colleagues in the House of Commons who, applauding themselves as they did so, voted down an opposition motion in support of door-to-door mail delivery.

Gallant’s ad, which ran in Wednesday’s North Renfrew Times, as well as the Renfrew Mercury and Eganville Leader, co-opted, without permission, the “Save Canada Post” logo used by CUPW in its campaign against what it says are Conservative-backed cuts to postal service.

The union has filed an official complaint with Elections Canada, claiming the ad is “misleading and an unacceptable use of its ‘Save Canada Post’ logo.”

The ad also makes statements that CUPW says are false, including that changes to postal service will result in “NO job losses,” a number that even Canada Post’s figures indicate falls short by 6,000-8,000.

“It’s plain wrong for the people who are cutting the service to use our campaign logo to fuel their steady stream of lies about it,” said CUPW national president Mike Palecek. “It’s outrageous.”

Palecek added that Gallant’s unauthorized use of CUPW’s logo is “deceptive” in that it suggests an endorsement of Gallant by the union. “That logo says something entirely different than what she’s using it for.”

Palecek added that the union disputes “just about every single claim” in the ad. “They claim no changes to rural service, when in fact we’re seeing a downsizing and closing of rural post offices across the country.

“They say this will be paid for without a tax increase. This statement is ludicrous. Canada Post is profitable. It’s not a drain on taxpayers, and in fact has returned over $2 billion over the last 20 years to the public purse. Canada Post has not taken a penny of taxpayers’ money in decades.”

Palecek noted that the union only learned of the ad on Wednesday night, when someone brought a copy to an all-candidates meeting in Petawawa. Gallant was the only riding candidate who did not attend.

Gallant’s campaign manager, Steve Carson, offered “no comment” when asked about the matter.

The furor over Gallant’s ad marked the second time in a week that the incumbent MP for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke has caught flak for her campaign.

On Oct. 9, apparently ignoring former prime minister Pierre Trudeau’s advice that the state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation, Gallant was caught electioneering , uninvited and without permission, in residents’ rooms at Renfrew’s Bonnechere Manor, a long-term care home, in violation of Elections Canada’s rules.

She was asked to leave.

More from The Gargoyle’s Election 2015 Notebook

bdeachman@ottawacitizen.com

查看原文...