BC Government Turns to Twitter and Radio Ads for for Job Creation Ideas

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VICTORIA -- When Premier Christy Clark announced her "Canada Starts Here" slogan and BC Jobs Plan before the Vancouver Board of Trade in September it seemed the push was on; a jobs tour followed shortly after with the singular goal to put BC back to work.

But as the province turns to Twitter with links to a survey and public feedback page at their website BCJobsPlan.ca, they're also buying ad-time on the radio and prompting a sharp rebuke from New Democrats.

"What happened in November I'm told is that people really didn't respond to the jobs plan" says Surrey-Whalley NDP MLA Bruce Ralston, "I think they've gone back to the drawing board to get public support and public interest in a jobs plan that doesn't really talk about jobs."

Ralston says polling and focus group testing showed the BC Liberals the issue wasn't getting any traction.

So he contends, what follows is a public relations exercise that the public is paying for.

"Social media is an important channel these days to talk to people" he says, "but when you are consulting on a major public policy initiative you should really talk to people before rather than after."

The Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation was unavailable for an interview Wednesday but staff did respond by email to questions posed by CTV News.

Q: The Opposition says this online and radio push comes after focus group testing or polling after the roll-out of the Premier's jobs plan that showed it wasn't getting any traction. Was there polling of focus testing done after the roll-out?

A: "This is part of a plan that began in September with the release of the jobs plan. The focus grouping we conducted demonstrated that citizens want more information about the jobs plan and how they can participate."

Some measure of public input has indeed always been a part of the plan, and reviewing CTV News video of its launch September 22 in Vancouver, Premier Christy Clark makes at least two references to seeking ideas from the public, and one reference directly to the website www.bcjobsplan.ca.

Q: Why choose the week of Boxing Day to begin the push -- isn't that a bit of an obscure time with people likely busy with other things?

A: "Again, the process of engaging citizens began back in September, as part of the launch of the BC Jobs Plan."

While the website www.bcjobsplan.ca was launched in September, the public feedback section was added in November.

Q: Wouldn't this kind of public feedback or call for ideas have been better to get before the plan was rolled out?

A: "There was considerable consultation with stakeholders prior to the plan being released. Now we are looking to build on the plan with the broadest possible input from British Columbians."

Q: What is the approximate value of the ad buy for the radio spots, and if there is one for television or print as well, what is the total the government is spending on communicating the message of the jobs plan?

A: "We will not be in a position to release the campaign's total costs until public accounts."

A follow-up question by CTV News for a more specific timeline was answered with "early next year".


Follow Brett Mineer on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CTVNewsBrett

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