Canada Mid-Term Report 2016- 2018 – For Public Comment

In 2018, the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... published the progress report for Canada’s third action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen.... The report covers the development and first year of implementation of the action plan July 2016 through June 2017.

In Canada, the IRM researcher Michael Karanicolas of the Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia report’s findings are summarized below:

“Canada’s third plan included commitments related to improving access to information, increasing fiscal transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More, utilizing open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici..., and engaging Canadian citizens and the world in open government principles. While the development of the third action plan saw increased stakeholder engagement, participating stakeholders expressed concerns that their opinions were not fully considered in drafting the final plan. Moving forward, the government should embrace a more robust co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... that affords stakeholders a greater voice in the wording of commitments, and places special emphasis on engagement with First Nations.”

And in French:

“Le troisième plan du Canada comprenait des engagements liés à l’amélioration de l’accès à l’information, à la transparence fiscale, à l’utilisation de données ouvertes et à l’engagement des citoyens canadiens et du monde dans les principes du gouvernement ouvert. Alors que l’élaboration du troisième plan d’action s’est traduite par une augmentation de l’engagement des parties prenantes, celles-ci ont exprimé des préoccupations quant au fait que leurs opinions n’avaient pas été pleinement prises en compte lors de la rédaction du plan final. Pour aller de l’avant, le gouvernement devrait adopter un processus de co-création plus solide qui permettrait aux intervenants d’être mieux représentés dans la formulation des engagements, et accorder une importance particulière à l’engagement avec les Premières nations.”

The version of the report for public comment is available in English and French below. The two-week public comment period closed 3 April 2018.