1. Bridging the Gap
Government Relations for Social
Entrepreneurs

2. BUILDING THE CONNECTION
CONTENT PAGE
GOVERNMENT’S CHALLENGE 4
GOVERNMENT’S OPPORTUNITY 5
SUSTAINABLE INSTITUTIONS ARE BUILT ON: 6
HOW ERMG CAN HELP 7
SUMMARY 8
DISCUSSION 9
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3. WHAT DO I NEED
GOVERNMENT FOR?
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4. What Is Government?
• If society is a body and business is its nervous system, then Government is
the grey matter.
• Government is responsible for:
– designing and overseeing the implementation of social and economic policy
within its jurisdiction
– Working with other levels of government
– Communicating its actions to the public
– Collecting taxes and pursuing revenue-generating activities to pay for its
programs
• Like it nor not, government matters to you, your business, and the future
of your community.
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5. Piecing the Puzzle Together
• Government is a complex hive of groups, individuals, mandates and
agendas
– Internal influences (decision makers, planners and advisors)
– External influences (Associations, Private Sector, Not-For-Profit Sector, Media)
• To successfully navigate this web and achieve your objectives, you need a
solid understanding of:
– Who makes political decisions, how those decisions are shaped and what the
broader context is in which those decision are are being made.
– The social economic and political landscape which informs these decision
makers and influencers
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6. The Players
INTERNAL
Tier 1 – Decision Makers
(Ministers, Premier’s Office, Leaders of
Opposition)
Tier 2 – Decision Planners
(Minister’s Staff, Deputy Ministers, Assistant
Deputy Ministers, Agency leads)
Tier 3 – Decision Influencers
Parliamentary Assistants, Opposition
Critics
EXTERNAL
Private Sector
(Professional Associations, Lobby
Groups, Corporations)
Advocacy Groups
(Unions, Not-For-Profits, Associations)
Other
(Constituents, Media, Foreign/extra-
regional governments
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7. The Landscape
• Political
– Timing of elections (federal, provincial, municipal, by-elections, some external
jurisdictions
– Status of government (majority, minority, current polling, etc.)
– Established government priorities, Ministerial priorities, polling
• Social and Economic
– Long term (environmental concern,
unemployment, the economy
– Short-term (Eaton Centre shooting,
mall collapse in Elliot Lake)
– Key themes emerging from established/new media
• Social Media
– Taking on a life of it’s own (#TellVicEverything and #ThanksKenney on Twitter,
Min Reyes, etc)
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8. • The bad news:
– Government is populated by busy people with top-down mandates, personal
agendas, limited information and even less time
– The fire-hose nature of policy and politics means that politicians and
bureaucrats tend to focus on a few key priority points they feel are both
necessary and have political traction
– Government officials realize they will never make everyone happy; as such,
bringing concerns to their attention is not enough to ensure action
• The good news:
– Politicians and bureaucrats are still people; they live in the same world as the
rest of us. If you can personalize your ask, humanize yourself and create a
connection between your objectives and their objectives, you can build
partners and effect change
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9. WHAT DOES GOVERNMENT
WANT FROM ME?
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10. “We will continue looking for additional savings across government
while providing quality public services for Ontario families.
“And we welcome good ideas — from people, business owners,
economists and the Opposition — on how to best find those
savings.
- Dwight Duncan, Ontario Minister of Finance
“We can perhaps shoot for a grander goal – a province that
provides the best public services, delivered in the most
efficient manner in the world.
If this sounds impossibly ambitious, put the question another
way: Why not?
- The Drummond Report
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11. GOVERNMENT’S CHALLENGE
• Reducing expenditure to ensure systematic sustainability
• Avoiding future e-Healths and ORNGEs
• Creating a Public Sector culture of empowered responsibility
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• Delivering the highest quality, most cost-
efficient public services to the people of
Ontario
• The public expects government to protect
core public services, uncover and manage
system abuse, reduce the deficit yet create
sustainable opportunity

12. GOVERNMENT’s OPPORTUNITY
• Create viable, sustainable
institutions to support the best
public service system in the world
• Avoid organizational disrepute and
costs that result from internal and
external fraud, abuse and waste
• Foster sustainable prosperity in the
province of Ontario that ensures
equitable status to all Ontarians,
regardless of demographics
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• Successful individuals and sustainable environments for a
strong Ontario

13. CHARTING A COURSE
TO SUCCESS
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14. SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
• Media monitoring (news chains, social media, key commentators)
– Identify potential partners and initiatives that could be at cross-purposes
– Follow related events to maintain situational awareness
– Determine opportunities for responses that build the market and build the
brand
– Develop events calendar for relevant opportunities
to connect with potential partners
• Political Watch
– Related activity in the Legislature (relevant Bills, stories, MPPs expressing
related interest through debate, Statements and Questions)
– Tier 1 and 3 MPP websites and social media feed (for events and relevant
data)
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15. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
• Identify policy development priority groups:
– Tier 1 – Decision Makers
– Tier 2 – Decision Planners
– Tier 3 – Decision Influencers
• Identify potential allies and potential threats
within external influence groups
– Competitors, Groups and organizations, etc. that could be impacted
positively or negatively by the achievement of your objective
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16. MAKE THE CASE
• Clarify your concept
– Market research, look for similar models for best practices/lessons
learned; flesh out concept in greater detail
• Conduct a SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis
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• Build partnerships
– Government agencies, Universities, Research
Institutions, Think Tanks, MaRS, Mental Health
Service Providers, technical expertise, etc.
• Tailor/align message for audience
– Government, BPS, Unions, Private Sector, etc.)

17. PHASE II – SHARE THE VISION
COMPLETION – 2013
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18. SPREAD THE WORD
• Create Priority Group
engagement strategies:
– Direct outreach (in-office
meetings)
– In situ outreach (political fund
raisers, post-budget
consultations, telephone town
halls)
– Self-generated events (invites to
seminars, press conferences, etc.)
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• Sell your vision and seek input from decision makers, decision planners
and decision informers – don’t bring problems, bring solutions
• Connect partners through strands of mutual interest; demonstrate
efficacy of your vision through practice

19. PLANT THE SEED
• Engage a set of stakeholders to test-drive the
concept
– Your local MPP, a Parliamentary assistant, your clients a good
starting point
– Study results for what works, what doesn’t and unexpected
opportunities
– Create a plan to include these lessons and expand the concept
province-wide
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20. GROW THE NETWORK
• Based on pilot-network
results, feedback and public
response, grow the model to
establish a full-fledged SSNO
that engages and empowers
all levels of Ontarians in
building the best public
services, delivered in the most
efficient manner, in the world.
• This is what being the best at
public policy and services looks
like.”
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21. SUMMARY
• The Government of Ontario is looking for ways to improve
public service, manage service costs and reduce systematic
challenges that foster/fail to prevent fraud and litigation costs
• Appropriate HR strategies are essential to achieving this goal
• EMRG has the solutions and experience to help Government
achieve the goal of providing the best public services,
delivered in the most efficient manner in the world.
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22. DISCUSSION
Notes
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