Chairwoman Brenda Eaton said the Capital Regional District sewage commission voted to approve a contract with Victoria-based Acumen Communications Group.
“They will look at all of the coverage to do and work with us to figure out what kind of information we need to get out to fill in the gaps of people’s knowledge,” said Eaton, who sits on a number of prominent boards and was once former premier Gordon Campbell’s deputy minister.
The communications work won’t be an attempt to influence public support for the idea of sewage treatment, she said.
“That’s not our intention at all. We are a panel of experts and we deal in facts, and our intention will be to put out basic information.”
Acumen helped rebrand Victoria police as “VicPD” as well as counter criticism of the Victoria International Marina project and helped provide publicity for the Island Corridor Foundation’s E&N rail line.
The commission of civilian experts was established by the provincial and federal governments in exchange for sharing a total of two-thirds of the $783-million project budget.
Its civilian members, who are experts in sewage treatment, construction and project financing, handle day-to-day decision-making on project procurement instead of politicians on the CRD sewage committee. — Times Colonist
