Bill 6: A lesson from the NDP on how (not) to handle public consultations
The NDP have landed themselves in a whole heap of trouble on the farm these last few weeks.
However, their actions do make for a compelling communications case study on how poorly thought out legislation coupled with a rushed political timeline, poorly trained spokespeople, vague, incorrect and badly communicated information can lead to public outrage.
Surprising? Not one bit.
As with many others, I’ll be watching closely to take notes as this bill steamrolls out with too few details, no real consultation with the affected constituencies and meaningless apologies.
As Marc Henry of ThinkHQ Public Affairs says, “Public consultations happen BEFORE legislation is introduced.”
One of the hardest aspects of consultation is winning people’s trust. It’s particularly troublesome if they aren’t being truly consulted.
It’s been a while since I’ve commented on political mishaps, but this one is truly unbelievable. More to come on this as we watch the mess called Bill 6 unfold in Alberta.
