A communications plan for public consultation




		A communications plan for public consultation *Background* As part of Program Review, the government confirmed its commitment to cost recovery. This ensures that those who benefit from government services are also responsible for the costs. The 1995 Budget included a commitment to apply cost recovery to environmental assessment (EA), along with a commitment to greater streamlining of the procedures and timelines. The government is now consulting with stakeholders to find new ways to fund EA so that environmental and entrepreneurial interests are both guarded. This feedback will form the basis of a Memorandum to Cabinet, which the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency will write this fall. *Summary* The document will be released electronically on the Agency's Web site, in combination with faxed and mailed letters to stakeholders. Print versions of the documents will be available on demand. Simultaneous with this, news releases will be sent, largely via electronic media, to key news outlets. We will prepare a generic speech, materials for the House of Commons and a news advisory for local media. *Target audiences* Primarily industries in sectors affected by EA legislation, as well as the associations representing those industries, followed by environmental non-government organizations, followed by provincial, territorial and Aboriginal governments, followed by the media and internal publics. *Main messages* 1. We are "getting government right." 2. The government wants to apply cost recovery to the EA process. 3. Cost recovery is going on simultaneously with process efficiency, to which cost recovery is linked. 4. The government wants feedback from the public on how to recover EA costs. 5. EA is a benefit to industry, so it is fitting that industry bear the cost for EA. *1) Creating the documents* The first draft of the consultation document has been given on Thursday, May 16, to the Interdepartmental Working Group (IWG) and the first draft of the position paper was given to the IWG on Thursday, May 23. Translation is provided by Helene Boutlelier of Apostrophe. Cyndi Kennedy of Themeweavers is handling design. She will produce a document that is simple to lay out, elegant, and with plenty of marginal space, so that the document can be used as a workbook. The design will include pull quotes that will draw readers to especially salient points. Cyndi will be given the copy in "rich-text format" which works on IBM and Mac platforms, and which preserves French accents. ACTION ITEM: Produce books RESPONSIBILITY: Paul Paquet, with C. Kennedy and H. Boutlelier COSTS: <CONFIDENTIAL> *2) The launch* We will send letters, 300-350 words long, customized for each of our target audiences, alerting recipients to the existence of the documents and to the World Wide Web site where the documents can be found. The letters will summarize and "sell" the documents, describe the consultation process, indicate the dates and invite the recipient to participate. We should fax the letters so that they arrive as the media cover the launch, but use mail when necessary. ACTION ITEM: Introductory letters RESPONSIBILITY: Paul Paquet COSTS: <CONFIDENTIAL> ACTION ITEM: Compile the address list & fax the letters RESPONSIBILITY: Sylvain Bertrand COSTS: Internal to the Agency ACTION ITEM: Load the document on the Internet RESPONSIBILITY: Paul Paquet with Ann Ray COSTS: Internal to the Agency For recipients without access to the Web or who prefer or need print versions, the documents will be printed on demand using Docutech, a service offered by Lowe-Martin, among others. Jim tells me that he would prefer to take Cyndi's QuarkExpress files and convert them into PostScript. Although Lowe-Martin is not the least expensive printer, I recommend them because they have the most experience with the Docutech technology and are extremely reliable. Susan Latour will get three quotes. Because they will be printed on demand, the English and French versions will be separate (as will, of course, the position paper and the cost recovery document). The Agency may want to put its printing requests directly to Lowe-Martin, since there are likely to be several requests and Cornerstone does not have any value to add to this transaction. The colour will be black throughout. The report will be printed on paper that is recycled from post-consumer and printer waste, and that can be recycled. It will also be available on demand in large type (probably by printing laser output). We will buy kit folders, into which we will place the consultation document and the position paper. We will design stickers and have them printed to indicate the title of the documents on the outside of the folder. (If we decide to send disks with the letters, we should send raw, un-designed text in "text-only" and/or "rich-text format.") ACTION ITEM: Print documents RESPONSIBILITY: Sylvain Bertrand with Jim McIntrye COSTS: Varies with quantity ACTION ITEM: Create kit folder RESPONSIBILITY: Cyndi Kennedy COSTS: To be determined There will also need to be an initial batch of 50 for the launch, plus approximately 1000 copies for the departments and for other uses. It is probably more cost efficient to photocopy. ACTION ITEM: Photocopy documents RESPONSIBILITY: Paul Paquet, probably with Zippy Print COSTS: To be determined Accompanying the launch will be a news release. This will be written by Cornerstone in consultation with the Agency and the office of the Minister of the Environment. Apostrophe will translate and the Agency will revise. The Agency will send the releases electronically to selected news media. The Minister of the Environment will be the quoted authority throughout the release, which will be roughly 350 words. The release will be on Government of Canada masthead. Sylvain Bertrand will be the contact person for media inquiries. There will be no press conference. ACTION ITEM: Write the news release RESPONSIBILITY: Paul Paquet with Sylvain Bertrand COSTS: <CONFIDENTIAL> ACTION ITEM: Send releases RESPONSIBILITY: Gordon Harris COSTS: Internal to Agency 3) Co-ordination with the Minister's office The Minister, his Parliamentary Secretary and other officials will need advance copies of the documents, which will be photocopied, as discussed above. They will also need cards for Question Period, Q&A's, a one-minute statement for the House of Commons and a generic 10-minute speech. Gordon Harris and Sylvain Bertrand will provide overall co-ordination with the Minister's office, as well as with the other departments represented on the IWG. ACTION ITEM: Cards for Question Period and Q&A's RESPONSIBILITY: Gordon Harris with Chantal Sirois and Paul Paquet COSTS: Internal to the Agency ACTION ITEM: One-minute speech RESPONSIBILITY: Paul Paquet COSTS: Free (except translation) ACTION ITEM: Ten-minute generic speech RESPONSIBILITY: Paul Paquet with Sylvain Bertrand COSTS: <CONFIDENTIAL> 4) Consultation The Agency, with participation from the departments, will plan the details of the formal consultations, including regional consultation sessions, all of which will include a half-day with industry and a half-day with ENGOs, Aboriginals and other members of the public. The day before, there will be time to consult the provinces. The Agency will alert local media using a generic media advisory template, into which the Agency can plug relevant information. This template will be developed by Cornerstone, along with leads that can be adapted for different audiences. In addition, the sessions themselves can be a communications opportunity. ACTION ITEM: Prepare media advisory template RESPONSIBILITY: Paul Paquet with Gordon Harris COSTS: <CONFIDENTIAL> ACTION ITEM: Customize and send advisories to local media RESPONSIBILITY: Gordon Harris COSTS: Internal to Agency In advance of this, we will need a speech that Agency executives can use to "sell" the process to local groups across the country, particularly industry groups such as Chambers of Commerce. I would recommend using the same generic speech as above, the details for which I quote again below. Note that customizing the speech for the audience is desirable, and can be done by Cornerstone, but is probably more effective for the executive to do off the cuff. ACTION ITEM: Ten-minute generic speech RESPONSIBILITY: Paul Paquet with Sylvain Bertrand COSTS: (this is the same cost item as above) ACTION ITEM: Locate venues and organize engagements RESPONSIBILITY: Gordon Harris with regional staff COSTS: Internal to the Agency 5) Post-review Once we have received public feedback, we should synthesize the results and let the participants know what we heard and that we take their views seriously. Moreover, this process could be another media opportunity. Naturally, we have to avoid implying the direction that Cabinet will take in light of the consultations. ACTION ITEM: Post-review feedback and media release RESPONSIBILITY: Slyvain Bertrand COSTS: To be determined 6) Further action The key piece missing from this plan are timelines. Cyndi Kennedy needs five working days between final copy and printing/photocopying. Assuming a June 13 launch, we get something like this for the books. JUNE 7: Final English (and French?) copy to Cyndi. JUNE 12: Photocopying JUNE 13: Launch (news releases sent, packages faxed) The problem, of course, is that the deputy ministers won't be able to provide feedback until June 7, and the CCME meeting is not until May 31. If the changes are more than superficial, especially after June 7, we have an enormous logistical problem that can only be resolved if Cornerstone and its partners work through the night, and possibly several nights. Per hour costs will rise between 150 and 200 per cent (i.e., the per hour rate could double). None of the costs above include sales taxes.