Prime Minister Stephen Harper has requested the online overhaul, which has some major departments such as National Defence planning to slash its number of websites by more than 90 per cent by the end of July.
The Harper government says it’s looking to streamline the number of federal websites in an effort to offer a standard look and feel, and simplify Internet searches for Canadians trying to locate government information. A handful of provinces have already retooled their web pages in a similar fashion.
“The government is also examining opportunities to streamline its web presence by making it easier for Canadians to find and access government information on the web through a single entry point,” explains the federal budget.
But university teachers, opposition parties and other critics worry the government’s online plan is meant to curtail the amount of information publicly available to Canadians, and doesn’t live up to the promise for more open government.
Documents obtained by Postmedia News suggest the government is looking to remove some web content that is deemed by federal managers to be “ROT” — “redundant, outdated or trivial.”
A questionnaire for Environment Canada officials assessing what to post online asks whether the information is required by law to stay online, while other questions ask about the number of web hits for certain pages and whether the content is more than two years old. It also asks if resources have been identified for the maintenance of the content.
“We are deeply concerned by what the federal government is doing,” said James Turk, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers.
“This is very much about reducing the amount of information available to Canadians.”
However, a spokesperson for Treasury Board president Tony Clement — who is responsible for overseeing the online retool — said the goal is to refresh the websites to provide more information to Canadians by organizing webpages and information thematically as consumers would want them, not based on government structure.
For example, the government is looking to provide one-stop shopping for a small business owner searching for information on taxes, how to start a firm, human resources and labour markets in Canada — rather than having to search websites of multiple departments.
“The goal here is to modernize and update the way the government communicates and offers information and services to Canadians. It has been the same for quite a long time, and there’s a strong feeling within government that we reorient,” said Andrea Mandel-Campbell, director of communications for Clement.
“The goal isn’t about cost savings. It’s about providing information in a modern and accessible way.”
Clement has said his goal is to consolidate the government’s web presence from approximately 1,500 websites down to six or fewer websites.
While the government hasn’t attached an immediate timeframe for retooling its web presence, some departments are planning to slash their number of websites over the next few months.
The Department of National Defence currently has more than 300 websites across DND and the Canadian Armed Forces, according to a department spokesperson.
The goal for DND and the CAF is to cut its web presence to no more than 20 websites — a reduction of more than 90 per cent — by July 31, 2013.
Provinces like British Columbia and Ontario have moved to a single entry point web presence that encourages users to search for information by keyword or category, such as: arts and culture; education and training; environment; taxes; permits and licences; and social assistance.
A recently leaked internal document said the Conservative cabinet is planning to significantly reduce the number of federal websites, as well as create tools and instructions to monitor social media and engage with the public.
The new web policies would set guidelines to establish a “consistent and coherent approach” for government use of all its social media accounts, says the document.
A British Columbia advocacy group promoting transparency in government, which obtained the document, has raised concerns the federal strategy could be part of a plan to control and manipulate information.
Turk with the CAUT echoed those concerns. He said the documents show the government is simply looking to keep online material that’s popular, when important scientific research and social policy that may not be as regularly viewed can be critical for Canadians and communities.
“The government is basically saying it’s going to be a popularity contest,” Turk added. “We’re really worried about where this is going.”
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Jason Fekete
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