Claude Panneton is a former public service executive with over 20 years of communications experience including risk and crisis communications, issues management, strategic communications and oversight of departmental public environment analysis, public opinion research and media monitoring.
Over his career, Claude managed numerous high-visibility files at Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Canada Revenue Agency. Claude worked on the response to BSE (mad cow disease) in Canada which was for many years a gold standard for crisis communications response in the Government of Canada. Claude also studied specialized risk communications at Oxford, UK, and at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Before retiring from the public service recently, Claude led the communications support for Canada’s COVID-19 economic measures.
In addition to overseeing large strategic communications teams, Claude has led many initiatives designed to improve client service and/or to better understand how government organizations are perceived by Canadians. A few of these include:
- the development and integration of public environment analyses into the Canada Revenue Agency’s communications planning;
- the launch of a new, more strategic approach to POR planning; and
- a coordinated approach to issues management.
Throughout his career Claude has taken great time and care to build outstanding communications teams that develop employees and advance communications practices.
Claude teaches a range of professional communications courses with CEC, including Plain Language Writing Skills for Government, Effective Written and Oral Briefings, Writing Effective Briefing Notes, Measuring Communications, Writing Reports that Work, and Best Practices for Internal Communications and Employee Engagement.