Yes.
There was a lot of media training of C-level executives during that time in the pandemic, because I think for many it was the first time they would be forced to deliver information of such a significant nature to the media.
Since the minister was one of just a few ministers who were tapped to deliver really important supports to Canadian businesses, I know her intention was to make sure she did that clearly and that she used every tool available to her, whether people were receiving information through Instagram Live or traditional media, so a number of products were created, which we detailed. There was also training around how to provide information to media and also how to deliver information in video format and through Instagram Live.
One of the things we produced was a seven-minute video with cut-downs. We took what we thought would be the most popular questions, the most urgent questions that Canadian businesses might have. We asked her to answer those questions, and we did a lot of training through that: Answer those questions simply and succinctly. Give Canadian businesses the information they need without all of the governmental jargon. Tell them how they can apply. Tell them what the eligibility is. Tell them what supports are available from the emergency wage subsidy to the loans. In seven minutes, she was able to do that. There was a full-scale video, but there were also cut-downs that she could use, and by that I mean small formats that she could use over social media to disseminate that information really quickly and clearly. I think that work was important work.
We also did some graphic downloadable one-pagers, which were available so that people could easily get the top 10 or the top seven things you need to know in order to access these supports. In some cases, since I am a small business owner who was interested in these supports, I knew the questions I wanted answered. I was working with other small businesses and I knew the questions they wanted answered, and I didn't want them to have to go to ministry web pages to try to decipher contents of press releases.
I think government is really good at a lot of things, but those things don't necessarily include using the digital channels and social channels that are available to them and delivering simple communications. I think there is a time and a place to use outside professional support, and, in my professional opinion, the middle of a global pandemic, an unprecedented crisis of this nature, was one of those times.