Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a supporting member of rabble.ca.
Ryan Leef, Member of Parliament for Yukon
Open Letter #27
Dear Ryan,
I returned from holidays to discover three Ten Percenters from you in my mailbox.
Ten Percenters are not to be confused with Householders, the quarterly booklets mailed out by Members of Parliament reporting their activities on behalf of their constituents.
Ten Percenters are taxpayer-funded one-page flyers. They are photocopied on both sides and frequently ask you to return them to the sender “postage free.” The House of Commons Board of Internal Economy is responsible for the Ten Percenters. The purpose of Ten Percenters is to allow Members to inform affected constituents about local issues.
Originally, Members were allowed to send Ten Percenters into other ridings. It may have been because postal codes don’t line up with riding boundaries and this would allow for cheaper bulk mailing. But it quickly became a partisan tool used by all political parties.
In 2008, the Conservative Party ramped up the use of Ten Percenters to an unprecedented level and used them to send out hate ads, something not done before. Here in the Yukon we received, on average, two Ten Percenters a month from Conservative MPs.
I considered this practice to be legalized theft of public money and an abuse of public trust.
At that time, I called the Ten Percenters “Tory Trash” and asked Yukoners to donate them to me for use in an art project. You might be interested in knowing that I collected more than 800 flyers. I had a successful show, by the way. I built a wall with Tory Trash called “Stephen’s Firewall: Do Not Play with Matches.” The Burnt Tory, a life-sized figure, still sits on my front porch scaring children and slowly decaying from the corruption within.
In March of 2010, Michael Ignatieff’s motion to ban this practice passed. Shortly after, the House of Commons Board of Internal Economy ruled that parliamentarians may not send partisan propaganda into their opponents’ ridings at public expense. But Ten Percenters are still allowed within a Member’s riding.
Once again, Canadians are being bombarded with Ten Percenters from their own Members of Parliament. Sometimes they are merely partisan propaganda such as the ones you are now sending to Yukoners. Sometimes they are hate ads like the anti-Trudeau flyers some Conservatives are blanketing their constituencies with.
Once again, I’ve invited Yukoners to donate their Tory Trash to me. I have placed a clearly marked garbage can in the foyer of Well Read Books. I have an art show scheduled for Gallery 22 next year.
You pointed out to me that Larry Bagnell spent $6,071.31 on Ten Percenters in 2010. I was already aware of this having asked him about it at the time and letting him know how much I disapproved of this practice. (I often asked Larry hard questions. You are not special.)
In 2010, parliamentarians spent over $10.2million on Ten Percenters. Of this, the Liberals, Bloq and NDP spent $1,428,018.94, $980,005.20 and $1,305,622.72 respectively. Conservatives spent a whopping $6,492,210.80 and averaged $43,571.88 per MP. The NDP averaged $36,267.30 and the Liberals averaged $19,297.55. Five Conservatives managed to spend over $110,000 each. The MP from Fort McMurray-Athabaska, Brian Jean, won the prize at $116,423.43. Perhaps he is expecting to be rewarded with a Senate appointment at a later date.
Ten Percenters are called such because each flier cannot exceed a number equal to 10 per cent of the number of households in their riding. There is a 50 per cent rule which states that the same flyer counts as a separate flyer if half of the text is different. I still have copies of Tory Trash from the 2008 to 2010 with versions of the same flyer containing a dense block of tiny print which had been switched out. This ploy enabled Chuck Strahl to blanket the entire Yukon with what were essentially the same flyers.
The Ten Percent Rule is actually the We-can-send–as-much-propaganda-as-we-want-at-your-expense-so-suck-it-up-you-losers Rule.
And that is why you should not do it.
Some parliamentarians from all parties have dragged their feet or even refused to take part in this race to the bottom. I speculate that anyone who spent less than their Householders budget may have actually used the Ten Percenters for informative rather than partisan reasons. Conservative Michael Chong spent only $1400.56 in 2010 while the former Liberal Speaker of the House, Peter Milliken spent a baffling $37.26.
Here is a suggestion. In the fall, make a motion to have Ten Percenters banned in their entirety. The Prime Minister’s Office would be displeased. But there are principled MPs, from all parties, who hate this rule and would be happy to see its demise. You would gain respect in the eyes of honourable colleagues and your constituents.
May you walk on the high road.
Respectfully yours,
Linda Leon
Want to read up on your MP’s pamphleting habits? Here is a handy spreadsheet listing how much Ottawa Members spend on Ten Percenters.
Support rabble today!
We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year.
rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today.
Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet.
Become a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca today.
Nick Seebruch, editor
