Privy Council Office wants $600,000 more to update Trudeau’s website

The Privy Council is asking for an extra $600,000 annually to “modernize” the prime minister’s “digital presence.”

Thestar.com
March 5, 2016
By Alex Boutillier

Public servants running the prime minister’s website want an additional $600,000 to “modernize (his) digital presence,” documents released by the government show.

The funding requested by the Privy Council Office (PCO), which provides non-partisan support to the prime minister and cabinet, would bring the price tag of operating the pm.gc.ca website to $1.6 million this year.

The website currently offers a photo gallery, background documents for policy issues, and news releases. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s staff regularly update his Facebook page, post messages on Twitter, and publish photos on Instagram.

But according to the Privy Council the additional funding is needed to ensure the official site is keeping up in an increasingly digital world.

“As Canadians are increasingly receiving and sharing information in digital formats, the requirements associated with pm.gc.ca have grown and become more numerous and complex with the addition of new content such as video, live streaming and social media,” Raymond Rivet, a spokesperson for the office, told the Star in a statement.

“The use of new technology platforms and the increasing volume and complexity of requirements associated with these publishing demands on the PM’s website represent a significant shift and rising pressure for PCO web operations and associated IT support.”

Rivet pointed to live-streaming services as a driver to the costs, and noted PCO commits the equivalent of four full-time staffers to maintaining and updating the prime minister’s website. If the funding is granted through this month’s federal budget, the team dedicated to pm.gc.ca would grow to six.

But web development companies and marketing experts question the $1.6-million price tag.

“Sometimes it’s hard to see what’s behind the scenes, but I just can’t imagine anything there that would require that kind of operating budget,” said Rick Silver, CEO of Toronto-based web development company WebPro.ca.

“If somebody said how much to build something similar to this? It would be a stretch to say in the tens of thousands. Probably for $10,000 to $20,000 I could replicate this pretty easily.”

Ian Capstick, owner of Ottawa’s MediaStyle and a former federal NDP adviser, said that the costs could include other services provided by the Privy Council’s communications branch.

But Capstick said if his company had $1.6 million to play around with, pm.gc.ca would offer a lot more than press releases and pictures.

“It should be cooler than it is, right? It should be more interactive than it is. It should do something as opposed to just give me press releases and pretty, shiny photos,” he said.

Trudeau spokesperson Cameron Ahmad defended the price tag, saying it was necessary to ensure the prime minister’s website was “adequately funded” as the government moves to new platforms to get its message across.

“The shift begins with ensuring that the prime minister’s website is adequately funded and operational to be compatible with the realities of the digital age,” Ahmed wrote in a statement.

World leaders. Web leaders?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:

Trudeau’s team has been very effective on marketing him across a number of social platforms. This practice began before the October 2015 election, and carried over to Trudeau’s first months in office - with his personal photographer posting candid behind-the-scenes photos, Trudeau’s participation in Google hangouts, and tweets pushing the Liberals’ policy positions.

Twitter: 1.42 million followers

Instagram: 307,000 followers

Facebook: 1.74 million likes

U.S. President Barack Obama:

Obama has been called the “first president of the social media age” by the Washington Post, and has shown a penchant for bypassing the traditional Washington press gallery to communicate through YouTube videos, interviews with comedians, and social media posts.

Twitter: 6.57 million followers

Instagram: 6.4 million followers

Facebook: 47.2 million likes

British Prime Minister David Cameron:

Cameron seems to be somewhat less successful than his American counterpart at mastering the social media game - although the gaffes tend to travel further on the Internet. Cameron’s office was lambasted for photoshopping a poppy onto the prime minister’s lapel in 2015, and was the butt of a joke from no less than Sir Patrick Stewart over an overly dramatic photo of the PM taking a call.

Twitter: 1.38 million followers

Instagram: 1,468 followers

Facebook: 999,693 likes