ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the strategic communication practices that the Government of Canada (GOC) employs in developing its purposeful use of communication to further its international mission. It answers the call for “descriptive accounts of public relations practices from individual countries” (Sriramesh, & Verčič, 2009, p. 3), in this case examining the communication practices that further Canadian federal government positioning within an overall global context. The opportunities to communicate about “global affairs” inside and outside its borders are endless as the country belongs to, and participates in, various international organizations, institutions and agreements. The chapter draws on previous research that argued that while a GOC public service communication branch could be managed strategically (Likely, 2013), the influences of the exempt, political communication layer in a Minister’s Office, and that of the central agencies of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Privy Council Office (PCO) were too dominant to suggest that the branch itself was an important part of the government’s strategic management process. These complexities suggest that strategic communication is the prerogative of the political party forming government. The same complexity affects strategic communication in a global affairs context, allowing strategic communication decisions to be taken outside of the public service communication community.
