By Canadian Press

Billboard company ‘appalled’ no one taking ownership of Bernier ads

Aug 27, 2019 | 2:22 PM

OTTAWA — The owner of the billboards that featured ads promoting Maxime Bernier’s stance on immigration says they would have stayed up had the third-party group that paid for them not left his company twisting in the wind.

Randy Otto, the president of Pattison Outdoor Advertising, says his company agreed to run the ads on the condition that True North Strong & Free Advertising Corp. identify itself and let people viewing the billboards know how to reach it.

Otto says his company felt the group could promote Bernier’s and the People’s Party of Canada’s views on immigration — as long as it was prepared to deal with any fallout.

He says he did not like having been left alone to defend the ads.

Otto says he was “further appalled” to see Frank Smeenk, the head of the third-party group, tell The Canadian Press he disavowed the ad and that he had paid for the campaign without getting the chance to approve its message.

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The billboards, which featured a photo of Bernier with his party logo and a slogan advocating against “mass immigration,” started appearing across the country late last week.

The Canadian Press