VICTORIA — B.C.’s agriculture minister is taking an unconventional approach to marketing his ministry, by offering up his body to generate publicity for an obscure food-donation tax credit.
Norm Letnick said he decided two weeks ago to have his body painted to look like an apple tree, in order to generate buzz around the under-appreciated tax program. The minister ended up on his back in a garage at Bella Rosa Orchards in Kelowna, while painter Darci Sellers took a brush to his body for three hours.
“I got her name from some friends,” said Letnick. “She usually does face painting, but she took a crack at the whole body. She did a great job.”
The resulting photos, released Tuesday, were widely shared on social media.
Letnick said the goal was to promote the program without spending public money. The farmers’ food donation tax credit runs until 2018 and offers non-refundable 25 per cent income tax credits to farmers who donate certain agricultural products to registered charities like food banks or school meal programs.
“I try to be very frugal, and this was one way of getting the message out there without using taxpayer dollars,” he said. “I think it’s a win win. And if I take a few personal shots from people that’s fine, I knew that going in. But so far the responses I’ve been getting are very encouraging.”
Letnick said Premier Christy Clark has been supportive of his unconventional approach. But he hasn’t talked to his cabinet colleagues about the photos yet. “I’m sure there will be a little ribbing going on,” he said.
The experience of having his body painted — he kept his shorts on — also made for an amusing story.
“I just lay there and was patient,” Letnick said of the painting session. “It was a little chilly, I must say, in the first part of the morning but as the sun hit the garage door it warmed up and I was very appreciative.”
