Minister ready with (type of incident) sympathies to (city or town)

OTTAWA – Officials are advising Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney to refrain from giving the public specific details if ever there is a major cyberattack on Canada.

However, to ensure the minister is not at a complete loss for words, his staff has provided a carefully crafted script for just such an incident.

Newly released briefing documents advise Blaney to say Canada and other countries face escalating cyberthreats, which are a global phenomenon.

And while he won’t provide details about the nature of the attack, he can assure the public the government has plans in place to prevent, minimize and address the impacts of cyberthreats.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office has been roundly criticized in recent years for micromanaging cabinet ministers and the public servants who toil in their departments.

However, the notes — obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act — show bureaucrats are not above looking over ministerial shoulders.

The prepackaged sympathy messages simply require Blaney to fill in the blanks by inserting the type of incident and the city or town in which it occurred.

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