Archive for May, 2009

StimulusWatch.org is an American site relaying information about American tax expenditures. In the Canadian context, StimulusWatch.ca will channel and relay information about the current budget, its divisions, release, and related indicators. It will provide or guide visitors to reporting mechanisms vis-a-vis the successful delivery of alloted money and services. The site will aggregate and display other informative media relating to the budget, its delivery process, and the Canadian experience. This media will include but not be limited to video, infographics, summaries, graphs, etc.
 
The aim is to de-mystify the process of budgetting. How does Canada budget? How can the end of the process contribute back to the originating, official aspects? Whereas Budget 2009 is to be  “timely, targetted and temporary,” I suggest that all budgets can be understood by examining the “people, places, and policies” relevant to the current government’s activity. Regarding people, who affects and who is affected? Beginning from the Finance Minister, who then oversees the budget’s implementation down to the receptive citizen? Has reception been positive in all program areas? Regarding places, where is the money coming from? Where is it going? Where has it ended up? And regarding policies, what is the big idea(s)?
 
StimulusWatch.ca is a Canadian site relaying information about the financing of public initiatives. Like the American site, it will pay close attention to the actual initiatives underway. But whereas the American iteration tends to fixate on dollars spent, this Canadian version will focus on participation and engagement of the citizenry, using the tracking and reporting of the budget as a means to a more democratic end.
 
Is it possible for a suite of tools to emerge that allows a dispersed citizenry to collaboratively track and report on the expenditures of a federal government’s budget? How would we aggregate information, allowing individuals to be heard while avoiding an uninterpretable cacophany? Reporting, summarizing and demonstration concerning the budget must manifest in different forms for a variety of populations, i.e. various levels of literacy. By broadening our styles of accounting, we allow a broader spectrum of people to participate. Here, the process is the product. Tracking and support for sharing data are the desirable by-products of a process which fosters national inclusion and civic literacy.

It can be hard to pin point the exact moment a thought becomes an idea, becomes an action, but what I can tell you is that when the Senate received the budget, that was when Senator McCoy expressed the thought that Canadians needed deserved a platform where they could track government spending AND offer their feedback in real time – Canadians Helping Government Help Canadians. 

So, Senator McCoy brought together individuals she knew with website and design experience and those with a keen interest in public policy who a) have insight into where some of the federal dollars are going and b) whose work and service can only benefit from having access to more data. 

In an interview with CBC radio Senator McCoy planted the seed if you will and the idea immediately began to sprout. We not only heard from those supporting the idea, but more so, those wanting to volunteer to help make the idea become a reality. This simple step brought us Laura, Richard and Morgen, our web guru’s….our guides. 

Since then we have been propelled into a whole new realm, where blogging and email are “old school” and web 2.0 Social Web is alive and thriving. Our guides networked and patiently taught us about social media and introduced us to a whole new wonderful lexicon. But more than that, they have shown us that there is an abundance of Canadians who share the common vision of openness and collaboration; a common passion for effective change in how we govern. 

A thought, an idea, a whole new magical world…Can it get any better?