Some elected officials shoot off their mouths without thinking and some officials can鈥檛 seem to say a word without consulting their spin doctors. Somewhere in the middle are the ideal leaders who are prepared with the facts, but can speak frankly for themselves.
We have no doubt that鈥檚 what Victoria鈥檚 Mayor Dean Fortin was thinking when he spoke last week of consulting his communications staff, but it鈥檚 a reminder of how important communications advisers have become to public office. It鈥檚 also a reminder that the aim of controlling the flow of information should be for the public鈥檚 benefit, and not for political expediency.
Fortin鈥檚 comment followed discussion on when to release agenda material for committee and council meetings. Currently, council members can get access to the material on Friday for a Thursday meeting, while the material is made available to the public on Monday. Councillors Marianne Alto and Shellie Gudgeon are planning a motion calling for the information to be released on Fridays.
A staff report notes that giving council and city staff prior access to the agenda material allows them to be better prepared for media and public inquiries.
That鈥檚 why Fortin favours the existing system.
鈥淚 know personally, as chief spokesperson for the city that 鈥� when I get that phone call on Friday at 5 o鈥檆lock, I鈥檇 be calling the city manager,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檇 be calling the director of communications saying: 鈥楥an you please prepare an issues brief?鈥� 鈥�
We have no issue with leaving the agenda policy that way it is. However, as chief spokesperson for the city for the past six years, and with six years of council experience before that, Fortin should be able to respond confidently and knowledgeably to most inquiries without having first to confer with his communications staff. He鈥檚 the one in charge.
Naturally, when technicalities are involved, it鈥檚 desirable to get input from the experts, but we hope that expertise focuses on making the information clearly understood, rather than steering the flow of information in a particular direction. If people think the information they鈥檙e entitled to is being massaged for political purposes, they feel gamed and trust is eroded.
That doesn鈥檛 mean communications experts aren鈥檛 useful. They help clean up the gobbledygook that sometimes issues from bureaucracy 鈥� 鈥渨ays to view and operationalize the concepts that have been articulated,鈥� for example 鈥� and turn it into understandable English. They are the ones who can transcribe technical jargon into words we mere mortals can digest. They can make life simpler, bless their hearts.
It鈥檚 when the goal turns from informing the public to influencing the public that the trouble starts. While Fortin鈥檚 breakfast will likely be ruined by mention of his name in the same sentence as the prime minister, we鈥檙e glad he鈥檚 not like Stephen Harper.
The Harper government has been a consistent winner of the Code of Silence Award from the Canadian Association of Journalists for, as the CAJ puts it, 鈥渙bfuscatory excellence.鈥�
鈥淗arper鈥檚 white-knuckled death grip on public information makes this the easiest decision the cabal of judges has ever rendered,鈥� said Mary Agnes Welch, CAJ president, when Harper received the award for 2007. 鈥淗e鈥檚 gone beyond merely gagging cabinet ministers and professional civil servants, stalling access to information requests and blackballing reporters who ask tough questions. He has built a pervasive government apparatus whose sole purpose is to strangle the flow of public information.鈥�
And the Prime Minister鈥檚 Office has become even more controlling since then.
To all elected officials we say: If you need help from your communications experts, we understand. Things can get complicated. Just make sure the purpose is to make things clearer, not to cloud the issue or cover things up.
