New Brunswick government spent thousands promoting program review

The New Brunswickgovernment spent more than $29,000 promotingits efforts to fix the province's finances, CBC News has learned.

As the Gallant government prepared to release a report aimed at finding millions of dollars' worth of savings and new revenue, it hired a Moncton-based marketing and communications firm to help sell its strategic program review.

The firm, M5, was paid more than $12,000 to develop promotional materials for the Choicesreport, while thousands more were spent on other advertisements,according to documents obtained through theRight to Information Act.

• Liberals drumming up support for HST hike, critics charge
• Victor Boudreau releases review with proposed cuts, tax hikes
• Victor Boudreau pushing to save $600M in program review

In oneemailexchange,with the subject line, "Tactical Executions," M5 and Executive Council Office staffdiscussedstrategy for French and English radio ads.

The ads should be voiced by "a New Brunswick female voice" in her late 30s or early 40s, one "that can confidently deliver 'hard facts,'" theemaildatedNov. 12, 2015,states.

Much of the strategy and "tactics" discussed between government and M5 is blacked outredacted because it's deemed "advice, opinion, proposals or recommendations developed by or for the public body or a Minister of the Crown."

Health Minister Victor Boudreau, who led the year-long program review, wasn't available for an interview when asked late on Wednesday afternoon.

Bruce Macfarlane, a spokesman for the minister, defended the cost of marketing the program review, describing it as "one of the largest engagement exercises undertaken in this province."

"The strategic program review process yielded expenditure reduction and revenue measures which will improve the province's financial situation by $589 million," Macfarlane said in an emailed statement.

$20K budgeted for focus groups

The provincial Liberals fulfilled a campaign promise when they launched a program review in January 2015, with the end goal of finding $500 million to $600 million through a combination of cuts and new revenue.

"We are on the edge of a fiscal crisis and unless there is a genuine transformation, things will not improve," Boudreau said in January 2015. "The role of government in society must be realigned to ensure that the focus is on priorities."

Not long after that, the minister embarked on a 14-stop consultation tour across New Brunswick. The cost of those sessions isn't captured in the documents provided to CBC News.

In September 2015, government put out a call for a research firm to conduct focus groups on some of the "choices" government would later pitch to New Brunswickers.

"The Executive Council Office needs to understand the opinions and attitudes of New Brunswickers relating to the changes being implemented as part of the Strategic Program Review," the request for proposals states.

"The results will help inform the policy decisions of the provincial government by giving an indication of the degree of interest and impact of specific policy decisions."

Government set aside $20,000 for focus groups, but it's not clear if all the money was spent.

CBC News requested the results of those focus groups under the Right to Information Act, but the government did not provide the information.

Thousands spent on radio, Facebook ads

Boudreau released the Choicesreport in November 2015, unveiling a smorgasbord of possible changes, ranging from cutting teachers, to placing tolls on highways and raising the HST.

Most of those options would remain alive on paper only, as government opted to raise the HST and corporate income taxes instead of making cuts to education and health care.

As the Choicesreport rolled out, government paid M5 $12,694.17 for "radio production and media planning."

Another $15,894 went toward buying air time on various radio stations.

The objective of this campaign was to raise awareness and start a conversation about how to address our financial challenges together.- Bruce Macfarlane, government spokesman

Hundreds more were spent on Facebook ads with videos of Boudreau promoting the program review.

The government recorded more radio ads in January of this year, just afew days before the minister began his second program review tour across New Brunswick.

This time, M5 was told to use the script "to frame and highlight the explicit choice between HST, health care and education."

The Opposition Progressive Conservatives had accused the Liberalsof trying to develop support for an HST hike, saying they planned to raise the HST all along. The Liberals denied the allegations.

In the 2016-17 budget, the government declared the program review complete and its "objective achieved," finding $296 million in savings and $293 million in new revenue.

Macfarlane said people deserved to know about the financialchallenges facing the province and the choices it was considering.

"The objective of this campaign was to raise awareness and start a conversation about how to address our financial challenges together," he said.