Service Canada

I had been at PWGSC, working out of Place du Portage, for a few years when I caught wind of the Service Canada story. I was told that there was this crazy bunch of people trying to change how Canadians access their government services. Instead of having to bump around namelessly from jurisdiction to department to bureaucratic answering machine, they were proposing a “one-stop shop” for all government services.

My little practitioner’s heart just leapt. Now here was a cause I could get behind – a story I wanted to help tell! The organization was only a couple of months old, and they were still building their shop. Imagine my delight when I discovered that their DG of Communications was Jean Valin – not only an APR, but a Fellow of CPRS and former President of CPRS Ottawa. He took one look at my cover letter, saw Algonquin and “PR”, and I had an interview.

Now let me clarify something: it RARELY happens that way. Like my immovable Y2k deadline, government is only prompt when absolutely pressed. But Jean was pressed. I was qualified, so I deployed over. Within the first year, I had helped shape the corporate comms plan, produced a corporate video, a public awareness brochure, and witnessed the birth of a brilliant series of TV spots: the Service Canada Booth campaign. Like building a ballet had been, it was a wonderful experience to be part of the creation of something new - and you don't get those chances very often in government!