Canada launches national action plan on open government
The Voice of Canada News:
The Government of Canada remains committed to being open and transparent by delivering responsible government.
Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government, today released Canada’s 2018-20 National Action Plan on Open Government. Canada’s fourth Plan signals an important investment in Canada’s long-term democratic health, designed in collaboration with thousands of Canadians.
Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government, today released Canada’s 2018-20 National Action Plan on Open Government. Canada’s fourth Plan signals an important investment in Canada’s long-term democratic health, designed in collaboration with thousands of Canadians.The new plan offers 10 open government commitments aimed at advancing government accountability and citizen participation. Whether upgrading digital government services, pursuing the renewal of a nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous Peoples, and opening up more access to federal scientific research and data. These actions reflect recommendations from Canadians during the plan’s public consultation process and incorporate lessons learned from previous plans.
Over the next 2 years, multiple federal departments will lead and deliver on the commitments in this plan. Canadians will be able to track progress on the commitments and activities that matter most to them through later in 2019.
Canada is playing a leadership role in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to advance open government practices in almost 80 countries. In May 2019, Canada will also co-host, with civil society co-chair Nathaniel Heller, the yearly OGP Summit in Ottawa. The Summit will strengthen OGP members’ open government practices and advance the leadership priorities of inclusion, participation and impact
Quotes
“We’re always looking for ways to improve how open government can deliver real and meaningful results for Canadians. Our new plan continues to improve the relationship between Canadians and government by driving more progress on the transparency issues that matter most to citizens. We look forward to making a greater impact over the next 2 years.”
-Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government
Quick facts
- Canada’s national action plans on open government are developed on a 2-year cycle. To date, Canada has completed 3 plans.
- From October 2017 to April 2018, the Government of Canada consulted with over 10,000 Canadians through in-person and online public consultation sessions and received over 5,000 comments that were used to draft the 2018 to 2020 national action plan.
- Draft commitments of the 2018 to 2020 plan were released for public input in July 2018, receiving several hundred comments, ideas and suggestions from Canadians.
- In addition to providing an online progress tracker, the Government of Canada will develop 2 self-assessment reports on the implementation of its 2018 to 2020 plan, and 2 external reviews will also be produced by the Open Government Partnership’s Independent Report Mechanism.
Canada has been a member of the Open Government Partnership since 2012 and is the lead government chair for 2018 to 2019. In this capacity, it is focusing on advancing 3 priorities: inclusion, participation and impact.
