Thread alert: Communications lessons governments must learn (BC edition)

1. Drop the slogans and rhymes - People want hard information. If you want continued buy-in, you need to trust your citizens with the data. Transparency is everything.

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2. Defend policy decisions - The days of edicts are over. While not medical professionals, citizens have been reading everything they can - world media, journals, studies... they want to know why government is acting a certain way. We live in a democracy after all.

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3. Don't finger point or scapegoat without clear and verifiable evidence - If a certain regions or demographic clusters are a problem, show us the numbers. Otherwise, you just look like partisan politicians trying to deflect blame.

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4. You gain more credibility by admitting mistakes than pretending to be infallible - BC was late to the game on masks, rapid testing, schools... Own mistakes. Government wasn't shy about taking credit earlier.

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5. Listen to your citizens - Parents and teachers were the proverbial "Canary in the Coal Mine" on risks associated with in-class learning. Everyday citizens can pick up on the ground realities first. Drop the credential-based elitism and listen.

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6. Show improvement - BC has lagged behind others on many things - publicly shared data, timely updates, number of tests...

Stop showing defensiveness and show improvement. You may be surprised how people respond.

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