Showing posts with label parliament transparency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parliament transparency. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Canadians Need a Better Government Portal Site




For better access to our elected MP's, Canadians need a complete overhaul of the presentation of the government website. Have a look at the example of this one in the U.S.


http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

I would also add that each MP should give recent comments on how they voted on an issue and have that on the website.

If Ignatieff didn't show up for his parliamentary sittings, then it would be noticed. Similarly, if an issue is not discussed in Parliament, but decided behind closed doors, then that ought to be immediately made clear to all instead of requiring a filing of Freedom of Information.

Here's a look at what a Canadian website looks like. http://www.canada.gc.ca/home.html

Notice how the space is taken up with graphics that promote policy that appears to be benign and official looking. Quite corporate and friendly. Reflecting back what we think of ourselves so we seem to be the focus. In reality, the function of it is to give documents a place to sit and be retrieved. There is no concept of our government wanting to know what we think or feel. What do you think?