Ottawa – Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Today, the second phase of a three-part consultation on Open Government was launched, with the goal of generating ideas from Canadians that will contribute to Canada's second Action Plan on Open Government.

This phase of the consultation will be open until the end of June. The intent of Open Government is to drive openness, innovation and economic opportunities and, at the same time, create a more cost-effective, efficient and responsive government.

Canada has been a member of the Open Government Partnership since March 2012, which now includes over sixty countries worldwide. Canada wants to provide citizens with better data and information, and more opportunities to learn about and participate in government.

Engagement with citizens, the private sector, civil society, and other levels of government is vital to the advancement of Open Government, so the new plan needs ideas generated from a variety of sectors. The Government welcomes the ideas of Canadians, as well as ongoing comments and suggestions as it develops Canada's Action Plan on Open Government 2.0.

Quick facts

• The Government of Canada released its first Action Plan on Open Government in 2012 structured along the three streams of Open Information, Open Data, and Open Dialogue.
• The 2014 Open Government consultations will run until fall 2014 in three phases. The objective of the first phase of the consultation, which remains ongoing and accessible online at data.gc.ca, is to determine how Canadians can best be engaged and informed about Open Government.
• The focus of the second phase is to gather ideas from Canadians about activities that could be in Canada's Action Plan on Open Government, 2.0. Canadians will be able to pose questions and make suggestions online and at in-person consultations.
• In the final phase, the Government of Canada will seek to engage with Canadians to refine and strengthen proposed activities for the Action Plan 2.0.
• A report on the findings from all three phases of the consultation will be published later this year and summaries of ideas and comments submitted will be posted at regular intervals.

Quotes

"Canada has a diverse and vibrant economy that is backed by open and inclusive political institutions. Our Open Government Action Plan is all about reinforcing these foundations of our success as a nation. I encourage Canadians to get involved and let us know what tangible steps we should take to ensure our Action Plan on Open Government will benefit them."

– Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board

 src:news.gc.ca