Throwing Open the Windows

This past week in the House has been one of the most traumatic of my brief time here, surpassed only by the drama of those few days when the PM went to the Governor General seeking the prorogation of Parliament in order to save his government. On Wednesday I encountered two media camera men attempting to run as fast as they could up to Centre Block, their equipment in tow, talking excitedly to one another about how the Speaker was about to give his ruling. One fell on the ice, getting immediately back up and regaining his stride with a look of glee on his face. It was that kind of week. It could well go down in recent history as that period when Parliament saved itself from the creeping onslaught of a government bent on autocratic control of the House and the people. Only time will tell. I will forever recall these past few days as the week that Parliament fought back.Sadly, it could all be for nought unless the other half of the democratic equation comes into play - you the citizen. Watching the "At Issue" panel on CBC's The National last evening, I was struck by an observation made by pollster Allan Gregg. He paraphrased the title of that 1970 movie, Suppose They Gave A War and Nobody Came?, stating, "What if you had an election and nobody cared?" That indeed is the greatest danger facing Canada at present and there is no clear answer. The developments of recent days can't be all about the Speaker and his rulings or Parliament's ability to rise up and fight for itself. If at the end of the day citizens themselves don't validate those same concerns by engaging themselves in the political process and ultimately using their vote to assist Parliament in its renewal then we will just get more of the same.Each political party must now ask itself what it must do in order to renew not only Parliament but itself in the process. While progressive governments around the world have deployed digital technology to advance transparency and unshackle information to fuel knowledge and innovation, Canada has been held in check by the most secretive government in its history. It remains to be seen whether the technological revolution that is succeeding in renewing government representation throughout the Middle East and Africa will actually unfold in Canada, where research announced yesterday stated that we spend more time on the Internet than any other nation.My colleague, Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett, has worked tirelessly on this equation, endeavouring to get the House to adopt new rules for democratic engagement. She is not alone, as other parties, including some in the Conservative Party, are attempting to get water out into the parched lands of our present Canadian democracy. She believes that unless all parties, including our own, adopt a new approach to information, starting with a government-wide directive that the default position for all departments will be to release information to the public, both proactively and responsively, then Canadian democracy will surely be in permanent decline.We have to be clear about the task at hand. We could start with at least five key initiatives.

• You can't open government up to the people unless they truly understand themselves and the demographics of how this country is populated. For this reason one of the first orders of the day should be to restore the long-form census. It's difficult to release information when you've just finished cutting the source of it in Parliament itself.
• Make as many government datasets as possible available to the public online and free in something like opendata,gc.ca - in an open and easily searchable format.
• Post all Access to Information requests, responses and response times online at a website like accesstoinformation.gc.ca.
• Make information on government grants, contributions and contracts available and searchable through something like accountablespending.gc.ca
• Start the entire process by directing all departments to adopt a principle of open government and stream it through the entire political structure.

These are the ideas put forth in the Liberal platform, but there are lots of concepts out there. We only need to get it started. There's just one hitch: the renewal can't start until Canadians opt for that change and they can't get it without voting. Some will say that there's no point because all you get is the same order and control after an election. There's merit and historic evidence for this claim, but the best way making sure we don't slide back to autocracy is to open information up to all Canadians. Knowledge is power, but information is the door to that kind of wisdom.Parliament has begun fighting for itself and for citizens by taking on a remarkably covert ruling party. But what if they did all that and nobody cared? Our faith as parliamentarians is not only in the Speaker but in you - that side of the equation is now in play. Only by responding to that overture will you once again being able to rediscover your faith in Parliament. This mutual contempt has to end and the best way to do it is to throw open all the doors and windows. Over to you.