Canada falls short on the PR front, again!

This is becoming an all too familiar trend here in China when it comes to my 'home and native land' trying to -- if it actually is -- fix what is rapidly becoming a tarnished public image in this country.

Since taking power in Canada, the minority Conservative government of Stephen Harper has not exactly endeared itself to the Chinese government. From strong comments about China's human rights record to the awarding of an honorary degree to the Dalai Lama, the current Canadian government has not done much to try to foster a friendly relationship with one of the world's most important trading nations. The latest failing came this week with Canadian Health Minister Tony Clement's visit to Beijing.

The Minister was here to sign a few agreements related to food and product safety. And given the recent fervor about tainted Chinese products in North America, one would have presumed that the Canadian government would want to get as much mileage out of the announcement in both the Chinese and Canadian media as possible. However, this was not to be.

Yours truly is on the Canadian embassy's email alert list. As such, whenever a Canadian delegation is in China for an event of one form or another, if the embassy is involved somehow, it will let the foreign and local media know.

Minister Clement's announcement on the food and product safety initiatives was on Tuesday morning at the famous Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where most foreign dignitaries go when they make joint announcements with the Chinese government. The first event was a Food Safety Forum at 8:30am, followed by an official signing ceremony at 10:45am, followed by an 11:45am 'Official launch of the Canada-China Joint Committee on Health.' The 'Notice to Media' from Health Canada, sent through the Canadian embassy here in Beijing, noted that the Minister would be available to answer questions from the media following his remarks. All this is standard stuff when it comes to news releases and events. However, what is interesting about all this is when the 'Notice to Media' was sent out. Yours truly received the email alert at 9:40am on Tuesday morning, the same day as the event. So, even if I would have checked my email the moment I received it, there's essentially no way that I could have arrived on time to question the minister about said announcements. Meantime, a telephone message sent to the Public Relations Officer at the Canadian embassy requesting an interview with the Minister was not returned.

Unlike Canada, journalists here in China require at least one day's notice if they're going to cover an event. It's just the way it works here. Spot news and breaking news are just not part of the deal here in China. And to be frank, events like this are neither! They require a significant amount of planning. And even if all the journalists were to scramble upon receipt of said media advisory to the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, gaining access to the secure location requires advance notice. The Canadian embassy realizes this. As such, there have been a total of zero reports about Health Minister Tony Clement's announcement in the Chinese media. And back in Canada, only the CBC and CP picked up the story, and essentially took it verbatim from the subsequent news release that was put out following the announcements. So now, the question is why the Canadian government didn't want publicity surrounding this joint agreement with China?

I really have no inkling about the government's reasoning for wanting to keep this announcement low-key. And if there were to be any suggestion that it was a mistake to send out the media advisory so late, it just wouldn't wash. Public Relations 101 basically dictates that if you want the media's attention, you give them enough advance warning to be at said event, and if you don't want the media to scrutinize something in detail, don't tell them about it until it's too late. Hence why sometimes governments will send out negative or potentially damaging information to the media late on a Friday afternoon. By the time it's picked up in both the press and electronic media, the reader, viewer and listenership into the weekend will be at its low point. And by the time Monday rolls around, the story has become old news. It's a somewhat effective trick.

So yet again, the Harper government has forgone a chance to give itself some positive press in China. And I'm beginning to think its time that questions start being asked about what exactly the problem really is, and why.