When It Hits the Fan…You’re There!

I’ve got a great job. As the Regional Director of the Government of Canada Regional Communications Office (try saying that every time you introduce yourself…), I get to work with folks across the federal government, both in communications and in operations in general. One of the things we’re working on right now is an updated plan for emergency communications, threading together all the various government departments and agencies (like the RCMP, Canadian Forces, Health Canada, Environment Canada, Transport, even Stats Canada) in a system to work and communicate together better when things get tough. And here in Atlantic Canada, we know emergencies can happen at any time – Hurricane Juan, White Juan, SwissAir Flight 111, the arrival of the Kosovo refugees, and the planes which landed here after September 11 – all these events caused federal communicators to swing into action and work together to communicate important messages to the public. But the fact is, many of the communicators who handled these critical events won’t still be on the job to handle the hurricane, the plane crash, or the outbreak of some nasty virus which will happen in the next few years. They’ll be retired, or will have moved on to new challenges. It’ll be a communicator who started last year with Public Safety Canada, or one who is still studying at the Mount who will be there, at the centre of a media scrum or pulling a long shift at the Rescue Coordination Centre, crafting and delivering the messages the public is eager to hear, or which need to know to keep them safe. All through my military and public service career, I have found working in communications during emergencies to be the most satisfying and rewarding part of my job. And I kind of envy the young communicator who is just about to take up the challenge to work with the federal government – they’ve got all that satisfaction still ahead of them.

Glenn Chamberlain

Glenn Chamberlain works for the Treasury Board Secretariat office in Halifax. He also worked for Justice Canada, following his twenty year career with the Canadian Forces Public Affairs Branch.