What is the issue?
The Conservative Government decided that it would kill the mandatory long- form census it normally sends out to thousands of Canadians every five years. Instead, a mandatory short form will go out to everyone for next year’s census, with basic questions about how many people live in the household and their ages and genders.
Having just returned from my 100% digitally disconnected cottage vacation, I’ve had quite a bit of catching up to do on this whole situation.
Here’s the scoop: In the 17th annual report to the Prime Minister published a few weeks ago, Privy Council Clerk Wayne Wouters states “government departments have to embrace the Web 2.0 tools and technology that rest of the world uses that allow more collaboration among workers, levels of government and Canadians”. While his predecessor included similar phrases in the last report, Wayne clearly makes a point to emphasize how Canada has fallen behind in terms of e-government, not just from a technological standpoint, but much more importantly from an organizational culture standpoint.