Federal government spends more on news clipping services than on polling
The prime minister’s department, the Privy Council Office, has spent $3.8 million monitoring what’s said in newspapers, during broadcasts, and on websites since 2008, the most of any department in the federal government. In all, the Conservatives have spent $38.7 million on media monitoring services over the past three years, according to data compiled by the Ottawa Citizen—more than the $29.6 million the federal government has spent on polling over the same period. In 2007, the Tories ran up a record $31 million tab for polling, but spending on public opinion research has since been slashed.