‘Bureaucrats Need to Knock It Off’: Taxpayer Advocacy Group Condemns Big Spending on Promotional Items, Branded Merchandise

The West Block of Parliament Hill is seen through the window of the Sir John A. Macdonald Building in Ottawa in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

A government order paper showing massive spending by departments, agencies, and Crown corporations on promotional items and branding products has led a taxpayer advocacy group to suggest that politicians should initiate budget cuts if this persists.

The expenditures were listed in a government response to an order paper question submitted by Conservative MP John Brassard on May 2, inquiring about purchases of promotional products by departments and ministries between Jan. 1, 2021, and May 2, 2023. The issue was first reported by National Post on July 31.