The director of communications and departmental officials are also expected to follow all the rules under the guidelines of the Government of Canada's communications policy.
Under the policy, and I quote: “Institutions must consult their minister's office when planning media campaigns or strategies that could involve ministerial participation, or when preparing a response to a media enquiry that could have implications for the minister”.
Ministers are the principal spokespersons of the Government of Canada. They are supported in this role by appointed aides, including executive assistants, communications directors, and press secretaries in the ministers' offices.
I take my roles and responsibilities very seriously, and I have always followed the communications policy, as I do in this instance being examined in front of the committee today.
Mr. Chair, I understand that the committee has invited me here today to discuss a newspaper article based on an inquiry into the cost of economic action plan advertising campaigns. The facts are as follows. A reporter contacted HRSDC requesting information on the economic action plan help for workers ad campaign that ran during the Olympics two days before the ad campaign was completed. He specifically asked for two things: the cost and the frequency of the ads.
It is impossible to respond to the question of frequency of ads before an ad campaign is over. There are several reasons why.
For instance, programming can change and the frequency of ads can differ from what was originally planned. Ad campaigns are unique in that they do not have fixed costs. The cost of an ad campaign depends on the frequency of the ads. Accordingly, until the frequency is known, it is impossible to know the accurate costs.
Again, this information was readily available once the campaign was complete. As soon as the ad campaign ended and the frequency was actually known, more accurate costs were available, and that information was provided to whoever requested it.
I would like to repeat: the information was released after the advertising campaign ended and more accurate information was available.
Our government was forthcoming in providing more accurate costs in a timely manner once the campaign was complete and final airtime was known. The approach taken was prudent and responsible.
Mr. Chair, it is important to inform the committee that the objective assessment of the advertising campaign shows that it was very successful in raising awareness for Canadian workers of the programs that our government is delivering in these tough economic times. There was a higher-than-average recall rate and a higher-than-average number of Canadians who said they would take action as a result of seeing the ads.
Canadians have a right to know what programs and services are available from the government to help them and their families. Canadian taxpayers also have a right to the most accurate information available regarding the use of their tax dollars.
Accordingly, waiting for the ad campaign to end and providing the most accurate costs in a timely manner was the prudent and responsible approach. I'd be pleased to take questions.
