Canada's 5th National Action Plan on Open Government

Climate change is a global problem which threatens our health, way of life, and planet. A united and global response is required, and Canada is committed to doing its part. Significant changes are needed across every industry and sector, including changes that promote sustainable and inclusive socio-economic growth to build resilience to a changing climate. 

Sharing government data and information, including scientific research, is a fundamental open government practice that can help combat climate change and protect our environment, economy and infrastructure.  

Think about the issues you care about concerning climate change and the environment and share your thoughts and ideas with us. You can use the questions below to guide your input.

Questions

1. What is (are) your idea(s) about how open government can help combat climate change and protect the environment?
2. What are some of the conditions required to successfully implement this idea?
3. How would life be different in Canada if your solution were successful?
4. How might the solution(s) differently impact marginalised or underrepresented groups and communities in Canada?

As social media becomes a main outlet for news and information, disinformation and misinformation are becoming a threat to public trust, undermining the ability to conduct fair elections and weakening the voices of reliable news sources. The Open Government Partnership defines misinformation as information that is false but not created with the intention of causing harm. While disinformation is information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization or country. The spread of these types of compromised information is supported by limited regulations and control on social media.

Open government principles and practices can help combat the undermining effect that disinformation has on social cohesion. Engaging people across Canada on the impacts of disinformation and providing them with tools to better identify authentic news sources can limit the spread of compromised information. Efforts to engage communities most vulnerable to these threats, such as youth, are particularly important. Governments can help counter disinformation by sharing authoritative data and information on key topics like elections, and by being transparent about how such information is collected and used to inform their decisions.  

You can use the questions below to guide your input.

Questions

1. What is (are) your idea(s) about how open government can help combat disinformation and safeguard fair elections?
2. What are some of the conditions required to successfully implement this idea?
3. How would life be different in Canada if your solution were successful?
4. How might the solution(s) differently impact marginalised or underrepresented groups and communities in Canada?

If you prefer not to participate in the discussion forums, you can send us private feedback. For information on how your feedback will be collected and used, refer to our FAQ.

**If you have not registered for an account, you will be asked for an email address upon submitting a comment. This information will be used to send you notifications about your comment and will not be published anywhere, nor does it require any verification. **

Financial and corporate transparency can help combat corruption, misappropriation of funds, money laundering and tax evasion. Governments can improve financial transparency by providing tools and information to make their spending easier to understand and by releasing more detailed information to allow the public to hold governments to account. This could be particularly important as governments invest in massive response and recovery stimulus packages to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

By improving corporate transparency, governments can safeguard against corruption and misuse of funds by corporations and other legal entities, while continuing to facilitate the ease of doing business to foster growth and innovation. In Canada, the responsibility for corporate law is shared between federal, provincial, and territorial governments. Additionally, international collaboration and information sharing where appropriate can support more effective work in this domain by identifying best practices and common challenges. Coordination is needed to address corporate issues effectively.

Think about the issues you care about relating to financial and corporate transparency and share your thoughts and ideas with us. You can use the questions below to guide your input.

Questions

1. What is (are) your idea(s) about how open government can help facilitate financial and corporate transparency? 
2. What are some of the conditions required to successfully implement this idea?
3. How would life be different in Canada if your solution were successful?
4. How might the solution(s) differently impact marginalised or underrepresented groups and communities in Canada?

If you prefer not to participate in the discussion forums, you can send us private feedback. For information on how your feedback will be collected and used, refer to our FAQ.

**If you have not registered for an account, you will be asked for an email address upon submitting a comment. This information will be used to send you notifications about your comment and will not be published anywhere, nor does it require any verification. **

Access to justice means that people have access to the information, resources and mechanisms necessary to effectively resolve their legal problems – issues that can impact many areas of their lives, such as housing, employment, education, health, and public safety. 

According to the Open Government Partnership, open justice applies the principles of open government – transparency, civic participation, inclusion and public accountability to the justice system. For example, accessible language empowers individuals and communities to understand the law and to use it to resolve legal problems. Collaborative and inclusive decision-making allows people to influence the shaping of the law and helps to ensure legal services are responsive to the needs of the individuals they are designed to serve.

Think about the issues you care about in terms of access to justice and share with us your thoughts and ideas. You can use the questions below to guide your input. 

Questions

1. What is (are) your idea(s) about how open government can help facilitate access to justice? 
2. What are some of the conditions required to successfully implement this idea?
3. How would life be different in Canada if your solution were successful?
4. How might the solution(s) differently impact marginalised or underrepresented groups and communities in Canada?

If you prefer not to participate in the discussion forums, you can send us private feedback. For information on how your feedback will be collected and used, refer to our FAQ.

**If you have not registered for an account, you will be asked for an email address upon submitting a comment. This information will be used to send you notifications about your comment and will not be published anywhere, nor does it require any verification. **

Open Government is about making government more accessible to everyone. This means giving greater access to government data and information to the Canadian public and the business community. Open Government plays a critical role in ensuring that people in Canada are served by their governments in ways that are responsive, efficient and fair. It connects people to the governments who serve them, and helps make policies and services more people-centred. 

Think about how open government principles and practices can be applied to the issues you care about. Share your thoughts and ideas with us. You can use the questions below to guide your input.

Questions

1. What is (are) your idea(s) about how open government principles and practices can be applied to the issues that you care about? 
2. What are some of the conditions required to successfully implement this idea?
3. How would life be different in Canada if your solution were successful?
4. How might the solution(s) differently impact marginalised or underrepresented groups and communities in Canada?

If you prefer not to participate in the discussion forums, you can send us private feedback. For information on how your feedback will be collected and used, refer to our FAQ.

**If you have not registered for an account, you will be asked for an email address upon submitting a comment. This information will be used to send you notifications about your comment and will not be published anywhere, nor does it require any verification. **