Open government the peaceable revolution

OPEN GOVERNMENT THE PEACEABLE REVOLUTION

What Is Open Government?

OPEN GOVERNMENT: A governing doctrine which holds that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight.

Opening Pandora’s Political Box

• Who is Canada’s Head of State?

• Who is Canada’s Government accountable to?

• According to our Constitution, who is Canada’s Government?

• What powers does our Constitution grant Cabinet?

• Who elects Canada’s Prime Minister?

• What responsibility does the Prime Minister’s Office have to the Canadian public?

Dieting on a Can of Worms

• Who is Canada’s Head of State? – The Queen

• Who is Canada’s Government accountable to?

– Parliament – not the Canadian people

• According to our Constitution, who is Canada’s Government?

– The Queen, acting on the advice of her Privy Council

• What powers does our Constitution grant Cabinet? – None. Cabinet isn’t even mentioned in our Constitution

• Who elects Canada’s Prime Minister? – Nobody. In fact, the Prime Minister doesn’t even need to be an elected official

• What responsibility does the Prime Minister’s Office have to the Canadian public? – None. They are just the support staff of the Prime Minster of the Crown in the Queen’s

Government

“We’ll go over the heads of the members of Parliament; go over the heads, frankly, of the Governor General; go right to the Canadian people.”

- John Baird, Government House Leader (2008)

• Canadians do not elect their government

• Canada’s government is not constitutionally answerable to Canadians

• Ministers of the Crown (Prime Minister, Cabinet) don’t have to be elected officials

It’s by convention, not by law, that our Prime Minister and Cabinet come from the Political Party with the most seats in the House

An Ancient Rite: From Absolute Monarchy…

Our system of government dates back to 1066 and feudal Britain – before there was a commons

- Monarch’s rule was absolute

- Had a Council to offer advice, called the Privy Council

- When Privy Council became too big, formed a small council (or cabinet) of administrators

- This is why Members of Cabinet are called Ministers of the Crown

… To Responsible Government

Magna Carta (1215)

• Crown cannot make laws or impose taxes without approval of feudal barons

• Approval body evolved into Parliament

• Parliament sat only when called upon by crown for law and tax approval purposes

English Civil War (1600s)

• Crown and Crown’s Ministers became responsible to Parliament in practice

• Parliament becomes a more regular thing

A responsible government is one where the Crown’s Ministers are responsible to Parliament, not Parliament being accountable to the Crown

Convention if necessary…

After TV:

– 24-hour political cycle

– Increased partisan control of levers of government

– The campaign never ends

Before TV:

- Media was a component of politics, not the driver

- Cabinet Ministers more control; less rigid, centralized file-coordination

- Campaigns have beginnings and ends

… but not necessarily Convention

• Shift in power from Parliament to unelected staff has left MPs uncertain who they answer to

• Political success = Party line and fundraising

PM = new monarch PMO = new Privy Council • By constitution and convention, citizens are left

out of the process

An inconvenient convention

• More committees meeting behind closed doors

• Senior bureaucrats slapped down or fired – Linda Keen, Nuclear Energy Watchdog – Kevin Page, Parliamentary Budget Officer – Munir Sheik, Head of StatsCan

• Muzzled civil servants and recipients of

federal funding

Do you know what information government considers when it makes policy choices?

OPENING GOVERNMENT: Government data and decision-making processes are open to all Canadians

• Allows for Canadians to more effectively hold Parliament and government to account

• Enables us to participate more openly in the policy-shaping and review process

The Open Government movement is our generation’s Magna Carta moment –

A peaceable revolution for a responsible democracy

Because it’s not such a bad thing to think beyond the box.

OPEN DATA A STEP TOWARDS THE GOAL

OPEN DATA: Data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone.

What is Open Data?

Open Data

Principles

The Benefits of Open Data

Public

Transparency

Accountability

Innovation

Service Offerings

Empowerment

Government

Public Engagement

Cost-Effective

Service Delivery

Where do we stand today?

Community

People getting involved, sharing and contributing

Commitment

Active initiatives from all levels of Government

Collaboration

Government and citizens working together to achieve common goal

AN EXERCISE IN STRATEGIC ADVOCACY

KNOW be

YOUR their

FOE friends