Democracy watchdog, Opposition say Tory open government plan falls short
OTTAWA— Critics were quick to dismiss a Conservative blueprint for open government, saying it will fail to increase public integrity and transparency.
Ottawa-based Democracy Watch said Thursday that the three-year federal plan — to be discussed next week at a major conference in Brazil — does nothing to fix dozens of flaws in key accountability legislation.
New Democrat MP Charlie Angus called the plan “a sideshow” that falls far short of ensuring Canadians have accurate, timely information about how and why government decisions are made.
Delegates from 53 countries are slated to gather in Brasilia on Tuesday for the annual meeting of the Open Government Partnership. Participating countries will deliver plans that spell out commitments on making government more open and accountable.
The Harper government plan would usher the Access to Information process into the digital age. It would also create a virtual library of government documents, improve federal recordkeeping, make more archival material accessible and build on efforts to release government data.
Democracy Watch says the federal plan will only make some government information more easily available in electronic format — not truly improve openness or accountability.
“In other words, the Conservatives’ plan is an open data plan, not an open government or government integrity plan,” the group said in an open letter from board member Duff Conacher.
The federal plan lacks measures to “close the dozens of loopholes and correct the many flaws” in the Access to Information Act, Conflict of Interest Act, ethics rules for parliamentarians, and other federal legislation that deals with lobbying, whistleblowing and election spending, the letter added.
As a result, secret donations, hidden expenses and weak enforcement of good government laws will continue, Democracy Watch said.
The Conservatives are in no position to tell anybody about running an accountable, transparent government, said Angus, citing the current furor over the cost of proposed fighter jets and the long fight to get information about human rights abuses in Afghanistan.
“We want to know where documents are, we want to be able to access information, and we want to know that government isn’t hiding key data — whether it’s the cost of the F-35s or the truth about Afghan detainees and torture,” he said.
“Otherwise you don’t have a functioning democratic system.”
Canada’s commitments to the Open Government Partnership include a technological upgrade that would allow Access to Information requests and accompanying payments to be filed via cyberspace. A pilot project would see a number of departments initiate the online practice, with the goal of making it standard across government.