Today is Budget Day for the Government of Canada. For a parliamentary democracy, a budget can help identify government priorities and themes for the coming months or years. This, naturally, has a great impact on the daily life of a government public relations type.

Deirdre McMurdy writes in the Ottawa Citizen:

“‘Budgets are unique because there are really no other opportunities for a government to command the full attention of the public, the media and every other stakeholder,” says Scott Reid, former communications director for Paul Martin and now a principal with Feschuk Reid, a speechwriting and strategy firm.

“Given the degree of focus and scrutiny, spinning and packaging the information is beyond important.”

That, he explains, involves selecting a clear theme — deficit reduction, tax cuts, health care, to name a few from the past — and then carefully choosing the language and sequence of arguments required to reinforce it.

Special attention is paid to the speech and the summary notes and the front end of the document, because that’s where the quotes and clips tend to come from — through the media to the masses.

It’s also crucial for the Finance Department staff members who are in the media lockup as an information resource, to be well-briefed on sticking to the script.

“You have to give reporters a hook that they can grasp quickly,” says Mr. Reid. “Something clean and clear that they can peg.”

He adds that one of the common tricks in federal budgets is to bury the items where there may be losers on page 521 of the technical tax change paper.

“A lot of it is about lighting: You want to cast the best light on the items you choose. It’s important to retain that control.”