Canadian Government Executive - Volume 26 - Issue 04

September/October 2020 // Canadian Government Executive / 19 COVID-19 the proximity that exists between political staff and civil service officials, a proximity made necessary by the central role of min- isters in communications activities, wheth- er strategic or tactical. Thus, it has created a working arrangement in which commu- nicators have become habituated to work- ing in tandem with senior officials and po- litical staff. In practice, this has resulted in a system where layers of approval baked into even the smallest deliverable. Communications in a pandemic Paradoxically, when faced with a bona fide crisis in the form of a pandemic, com- tionally or her counterparts in the prov- inces, territories and cities, these officials came to play a central role in deciding on and delivering the key governmental messages to the public. In these pan- demic months, officials whose roles have been typically limited to background technical briefings occupied centre stage and became the faces of governments’ re- sponses to the crisis. Some have emerged with newfound notoriety and fame. Determining the lessons learned Our observations point to governments having to embark on a transformation of their role, operations and methods by force of necessity, with an opportunity now available to take the lessons learned of the pandemic to incent foster transfor- mation by design. As we observed, the communicators demonstrated a great degree of resilience and adaptability to meet the crucial and urgent needs of municators found themselves perhaps more challenged to fulfil their function than their colleagues in other roles. In part, this was the result of contending with staff dispersed and working from home, disrupting the interaction-heavy work mode - especially with access to key officials curtailed if not impossible. Moreover, this occurred at a moment where all communications became de facto tactical. However, it is the expanded role played by senior government officials in this cri- sis, which may prove to be the defining change in government communications during this crisis. Whether Dr. Tam na- Prime Minister Trudeau speaks with media at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa. The first three months of the pandemic offers many lessons for communicators across all levels of government.