VERITAS: TOUCHDOWN(S) - TIMMY HO’S TAX BREAK

Setting aside the politics and looking purely at the communications, I have to call a Touchdown for both sides in the political spin war over the McGuinty government’s plan to harmonize Ontario’s sales tax with the federal GST. There’s a saying in the halls of power that “all politics is local”, meaning what really matters to people about public policy is how it directly affects their lives in real, day-to-day, tangible ways. The same holds true in communications. You can talk all you like about abstract or high concept stuff, but your message will only really resonate with me if you can relate it tangibly to me, my life, my family, my world. And therein lies the nexus between the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) and the Double-Double. Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak seized on this in the early days of the debate, getting some good message traction by reminding every audience that they would pay more for a cup of morning Joe at Tim Hortons under the new tax. Real, tangible, day-to-day stuff. So it was hardly surprising that Finance Minister Dwight Duncan appeared – where else? – but at a Tim Hortons outlet to announce that fast food tabs like a coffee and doughnut will be exempt from the new tax, among select other items. Real, tangible, day-to-day. It’s often called “retail politics” – but I think “retail communications” is an equally accurate handle.