I recently joined the advisory board of VisibleGovernment.ca, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that promotes online tools for government transparency in Canada.
We’ve just launched our first project — ibelieveinopen.ca — a site that collects pledges from Member of Parliament (MP) candidates to commit to making five improvements to government transparency. The site also collects signups from voters to show that we care about transparency and that we’re paying attention.
Check out the results to see if your MP has made the pledge. If they’re not, you may want to ask them why, because the commitments are basic to good governance:
- Support reforms that increase government transparency and accountability.
- Make campaign promises specific and measurable, and report progress on promises and their metrics at least semi-annually.
- Publish the content of his or her daily schedule, including meetings with lobbyists and special interest groups.
- Support reforms allowing free access to scientific and survey data gathered by government institutions.
- Support reforms that make it easier for Canadians to obtain government information they have a right to know.
Once you sign the pledge, you’ll be sent an email that you can forward to others to promote this great project. Easy way to get involved!
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:35 am
You might also be interested in Hugh’s blog on this topic, and Steven’s responses. I’m not sure I need to see the whole schedule either — but sure want to know about those meetings with lobbyists and special interest groups. The idea here is to track influence, not to micromanage. http://hughmcguire.net/2008/09/25/does-your-candidate-believe-in-open/
October 5th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
“I recently joined the advisory board of VisibleGovernment.ca”
Didn’t know that. Nice.