PHOTOS: Government documents. Really! (Photo: Libraries and Archives Canada.) Legislators in Ottawa need to get cracking to make Canada’s Crown copyright law responsive to the needs of the citizens of a democracy. Below: University of Alberta Copyright Librarian Amanda Wakaruk and Saskatoon West NDP MP Shari Benson. Canada’s Crown copyright
Continue readingTag: open government
The Sir Robert Bond Papers: Unopen Government #nlpoli
The idea of open data has been around for a while. In government, it means that government would make information like census data, statistics, licensing information easily and freely available for anyone to use, free of charge and any restrictions. It’s a way of sparking creativity, crowd-sourcing new information, and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how the City of Regina’s actual treatment of key information runs contrary to its stated commitment to open government.For further reading…- Natascia Lypny’s report on the City’s delays and denials of access to information about Regina’s new…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading.- Robert Frank comments on the connection between recognizing the luck and social support which lead to one’s own success, and being willing to fund a state which will ensure opportunities for everybody:I’ve seen e…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading.- John Ross makes the case for a focus on the social determinants of health in all kinds of public policy-making:Many studies show that if you work long hours in low-paying jobs and live paycheque to paycheque, co…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On closed-door decisions
Memo to Don Lenihan: It’s well and good to point to past backroom policy debacles such as utterly unwanted Crown corporation giveaways as examples of a complete lack of public engagement. But before lauding Kathleen Wynne as the face of open government, might it be worth noting that she’s doing
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Brent Beach is Running To Become Shawnigan’s CVRD Director
Brent for Area B OCP – Community Vision Incorporation Study Citizen Involvement Open Government Brent at the Focus News Updates Taxes Who Am I? My name is Brent Beach. I first visited Shawnigan Lake in 1978. Having lived in Manitoba and Ontario, Shawnigan Lake was a dream world. I moved
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Edward Robinson laments the willingness of European centre-left parties to abandon any attempt to argue against austerity even when the evidence shows that’s the right position to take: Centre-left parties in Europe appear to have completely lost the argument for pragmatic fiscal
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Tim Harper and the Star’s editorial board each offer up some hope that 2014 will be a more productive year in politics than 2013 was. And Nora Loreto offers a suggestion as to how to make that happen: Young workers, like all workers,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Thomas Walkom writes that the Harper Cons’ much-hyped economic record in fact offers ample reason to demand a change in government: The Conservatives insist that the economy is their strong suit. And for a while it was. In 2011, voters bought Harper’s pitch.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: #mtlqc13 Priority Resolution – Governance
One of the most obvious sources of cynicism in politics – which the NDP should be seeking to combat at every turn – is the presence of issues where opposition promises turn into government inaction or even abuse. And the Cons have sadly offered a case in point when it
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Is Christy Clark Lying to Us About the LNG Tax Windfall?
I don’t know. Do you? No. And, it seems, we won’t be permitted to determine if the BC Liberal government is lying to us about their future vision of rolling in billions in fresh new LNG tax money because the supporting reports won’t be released. So much for accountability and open
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: Parliamentary Secrecy Continues: House Committees Spent 55% of Time in Camera in September
MPs are back at work and, under the Harper regime, that means that they are once again spending a considerable portion of their “public” time actually meeting behind closed doors, away from the sinister prying eyes of the public and of journalists. The CBC’s venerable Kady drew attention to this
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: Ms. Redford’s Fudget-Budget: Not Open, Not Transparent, and Definitely Not What She Promised
Ms. Redford’s expectation that the price of oil would stay high (we’re currently hitting a nine-month low for oil), her spending promises be fulfilled, and that a PC government would be a stable choice for Albertans, has fallen flat. She ran on the regular non-Conservative spending sprees — even where
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: Open Government Update: Parliamentary Committees Spent 47% of Meeting Time in Secret in June
After an appallingly inaccurate CP report on Parliamentary secrecy a couple of montsh ago, Sixth Estate began tracking the amount of time that Parliamentary committees spend in camera, meaning in secret, under the Harper regime. The Open Government Project page shows that Harper’s Parliament allows committees to meet in secret
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Taking Back Our Democracy: Bridging the Generational Divide
These are tough days for Canada’s parliamentary democracy. Having endured years of steady erosion, it is now under frontal attack. Journalists and public leaders, across the political spectrum, have begun to document the injuries. We are seeing stirrings of outrage. But this assault on our democracy could not be happening
Continue readingLeft Over: Bob Paulson, Emperor Steve’s New Minion
Top cop concerned with Mounties airing problems in public RCMP Commissioner says bill will help end ‘outrageous’ behaviour “1984, knocking at your door…” What is it about the CRAPs that their supporters like? Must be the fact that they are impressive sweepers…of bad news, directly under the rug, never to
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: Further Updates to Open Government Project: Yes, Harper Parliament is More Secretive than Predecessors
A couple weeks after CP spread a nasty and false rumour that Chretien and Martin ran Parliament far more secretively than Stephen Harper does, electronic versions of its hit piece have become rare as hen’s teeth. Some are still out there, but CP’s retraction, prompted by fact-checking by exactly two
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: Secrecy at Public Accounts Committee Rises from 21.8% under Liberals to 32.1% Under Conservatives
My study of Parliamentary secrecy, rejuvenated by CP’s bogus numbers claiming to prove that the Martin majority was much more secretive than the Harper majority, continues. Unlike the House as a whole, committees regularly go in camera, meaning no observers may be present, and no detailed records of testimony or
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: “Data” on Parliamentary Secrecy from Martin Years Includes Senate Committees, Bogus Committee
As promised, I am conducting a fact-checking inquiry into the recent news report alleging, contrary to routine media reports of growing secrecy under the Harper government, that actually Martin’s brief majority in 2004 was far more secretive, averaging 116 minutes a day of hidden in camera committee meetings. I am
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