Openness and privacy in Ontario: an evaluation of the implementation of FIPPA : (The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 1987, Chapter 25 and Ontario Regulation 532/87) /

Since the early 1970's, Canadians have expressed many concerns about the growth of government and its impact on their daily lives. The public has requested increased access to government documents and improved protection of the personal information which is held in government files and data banks. At the same time, both academics and practitioners in the field of public administration have become more interested in the values that public servants bring to their decisions and recommendations. Certain administrative values, such as accountability and integrity, have taken on greater relative importance. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the implementation of Ontario's access and privacy law. It centres on the question of whether or not the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 1987, (FIPPA) has answered the demand for open access to government while at the same time protecting the personal privacy of individual citizens. It also assesses the extent to which this relatively new piece of legislation has made a difference to the people of Ontario. The thesis presents an overview of the issues of freedom of information and protection of privacy in Ontario. It begins with the evolution of the legislation and a description of the law itself. It focuses on the structures and processes which have been established to meet the procedural and administrative demands of the Act. These structures and processes are evaluated in two ways. First, the thesis evaluates how open the Ontario government has become and, second, it determines how Ill carefully the privacy rights of individuals are safeguarded. An analytical framework of administrative values is used to evaluate the overall performance of the government in these two areas. The conclusion is drawn that, overall, the Ontario government has effectively implemented the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, particularly by providing access to most government-held documents. The protection of individual privacy has proved to be not only more difficult to achieve, but more difficult to evaluate. However, the administrative culture of the Ontario bureaucracy is shown to be committed to ensuring that the access and privacy rights of citizens are respected.

The Ontario Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Individual Privacy Act: an analysis of its application to school boards

In Canada freedom of information must be viewed in the context of governing -- how do you deal with an abundance of information while balancing a diversity of competing interests? How can you ensure people are informed enough to participate in crucial decision-making, yet willing enough to let some administrative matters be dealt with in camera without their involvement in every detail. In an age when taxpayers' coalition groups are on the rise, and the government is encouraging the establishment of Parent Council groups for schools, the issues and challenges presented by access to information and protection of privacy legislation are real ones. The province of Ontario's decision to extend freedom of information legislation to local governments does not ensure, or equate to, full public disclosure of all facts or necessarily guarantee complete public comprehension of an issue. The mere fact that local governments, like school boards, decide to collect, assemble or record some information and not to collect other information implies that a prior decision was made by "someone" on what was important to record or keep. That in itself means that not all the facts are going to be disclosed, regardless of the presence of legislation. The resulting lack of information can lead to public mistrust and lack of confidence in those who govern. This is completely contrary to the spirit of the legislation which was to provide interested members of the community with facts so that values like political accountability and trust could be ensured and meaningful criticism and input obtained on matters affecting the whole community. This thesis first reviews the historical reasons for adopting freedom of information legislation, reasons which are rooted in our parliamentary system of government. However, the same reasoning for enacting such legislation cannot be applied carte blanche to the municipal level of government in Ontario, or - ii - more specifially to the programs, policies or operations of a school board. The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 1989 (MFIPPA) was a neccessary step to ensure greater openness from school boards. Based on a review of the Orders made by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario, it also assesses how successfully freedom of information legislation has been implemented at the municipal level of government. The Orders provide an opportunity to review what problems school boards have encountered, and what guidance the Commissioner has offered. Reference is made to a value framework as an administrative tool in critically analyzing the suitability of MFIPPA to school boards. The conclusion is drawn that MFIPPA appears to have inhibited rather than facilitated openness in local government. This may be attributed to several factors inclusive of the general uncertainty, confusion and discretion in interpreting various provisions and exemptions in the Act. Some of the uncertainty is due to the fact that an insufficient number of school board staff are familiar with the Act. The complexity of the Act and its legalistic procedures have over-formalized the processes of exchanging information. In addition there appears to be a concern among municipal officials that granting any access to information may be violating personal privacy rights of others. These concerns translate into indecision and extreme caution in responding to inquiries. The result is delay in responding to information requests and lack of uniformity in the responses given. However, the mandatory review of the legislation does afford an opportunity to address some of these problems and to make this complex Act more suitable for application to school boards. In order for the Act to function more efficiently and effectively legislative changes must be made to MFIPPA. It is important that the recommendations for improving the Act be adopted before the government extends this legislation to any other public entities.

Privatisation, empowerment and accountability: What are the policy implications for establishing effective farmer organisations?

Weak institutional development and information flows have constrained the extent to which the small-holder farming sector in developing countries can significantly drive growth and poverty reduction. Thisis despite widely implemented economic liberalisation policies focussing on market efficiency. Farmerorganisations are viewed as a potential means of addressing public and private institutional failure but thishas frequently been limited by inequalities in access to power and information. This article investigatestwo issues that have received little research attention to date: what role downward accountability plays inenabling farmer organisations to improve services and markets, and what influences the extent to whichdownward accountability is achieved. Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), one of the largest farmerorganisations in the world (>400,000 farmers) is examined alongside wider literature. Mixed methodswere used including key informant interviews, and eight months of participant observation followedby a questionnaire survey. The article concludes that without effective downward accountability farmerorganisations can become characterised by institutions and mechanisms that favour elites, restrictedweak coordination and regulation, and manipulated information flows. This in turn reduces individuals’incentives to invest. If farmer organisations are to realise their potential as a means of enabling the small-holder sector to significantly contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction, policy and researchneeds to address key factors which influence accountability including: how to ensure initial processes information of farmer organisations establish appropriate structures and rules; strong state regulation toenhance corporate accountability; transparent information provision regarding actions of farmer organi-sation leaders; and the role independent non-government organisations can play. Consequently attentionneeds to focus on developing means of legitimising rights, building poor people’s capacity to challengeexclusion, and moving from rights to obligations regarding information provision.

Strengthening citizen agency and accountability through ICT

We investigated the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT, namely mobile phones) in support of citizen agency and its potential in calling authorities to account. We focused on Eastern Africa and we used a mixed methodology, which allowed us to explore the current uses of ICT to strengthen accountability and to forecast the growth of mobile phones' adaption in that region. Evidence from both analyses suggests that there are two main areas where citizen agency and ICT can reinforce each other in bottom–up and horizontal processes: participation and engagement of citizens, and the diffusion of information.

Inclusion and accountability: communications research with consumers with disabilities

Over the past two decades there has been an increasing focus on doing research with and for consumers rather than on consumers. Research that is collaborative and inclusive has been called for by people with disabilities. People with disabilities are a group of telecommunications consumers who are disadvantaged because of social barriers and access issues with equipment, services and information. In this paper, the benefits and challenges of collaborative (e.g. participatory, participatory action, emancipatory) research with these consumers and the processes that can facilitate inclusive and accountable research outcomes are addressed. Throughout the paper, four questions will be explored: Who determines which research issues are explored and the methods that are used? What is the level of consumer involvement in the research process? How can academics and government ensure that consumer-focused research is inclusive and participatory? How, and to whom, should research results be made available?

In the first part of the paper, the perspectives on consumer research by people with disabilities are presented. Respect for and appreciation of consumers' views underpins the philosophical stance needed by researchers and funding bodies before serious engagement in empowering, person-centred research can be successful.

In the second part of the paper, there is a focus on defining the features of collaborative research approaches. Participatory research, participatory action research, and emancipatory research are variations that incorporate differing levels of consumer involvement. Each of these, however, embrace shifts in philosophy and methods away from more traditional 'scientific' research. Such changes result in a greater sense of inclusion and project ownership by consumers.

The third part of the paper addresses some of the issues associated with collaborative research for consumers with disabilities, for academic researchers, and for government funding bodies. Differing understandings of the social nature of disablement influence attitudes toward consumer involvement and are demonstrated in the choice of research questions, project aims, and the methodologies used. Differing agendas are reflected in reactions to the traditional project requirements and processes of government, the preferred research methodologies of researchers, and the perceived accountability of researchers or government for the dissemination and sharing of research results. The challenges to successful engagement with consumers in collaborative research have been identified in the literature and a number of strategies recommended (Barnes, 2003; Clear, 1999; Mercer, 2002; Oliver, 1992, 1997; Zarb, 1997). Application of inclusive strategies by researchers and funding bodies is essential for positive change and inclusive, empowering outcomes.

The paper concludes with a case study of a DCITA-funded research project. The project is evaluated using participatory/emancipatory research criteria modified from Zarb (1992) and addresses consumer, researcher, and funding body participation. The four questions used in the discussion of the paper are applied to this particular project. In addition, the benefits and learnings from the project will be compared with the outcomes desired by consumers who espouse collaborative research approaches.

Theory and accountability : the case of government consolidated financial reporting

The objective in this study is to examine the existing literature regarding the antecedents to public sector accountability performance by including a new variable: preparer-commanders’ beliefs about the usefulness of whole-of-government consolidated financial reporting. Goldberg’s (1965) Commander Theory was used as a relevant theoretical framework. Survey results provided insights into the beliefs of preparer-commanders as to the usefulness of whole-of-government consolidated financial reports for the discharge of accountability. While there appears to be a view that such reports may be useful for decision-making purposes, there is relatively less evidence to suggest that this type of information is suitable for the purposes of government resource allocation decisions.

Health information technology governance : a perspective on investment decision processes

Realizing value from IT investments continues to be a challenge for most healthcare organizations. IT governance (ITG) is envisaged to solve many of these challenges. ITG is the practice that establishes accountability framework for IT investments by allocating decision rights among major participants involved in IT decision processes. As ITG is relatively new in healthcare industry, it is expected that knowledge about how healthcare organizations govern their IT decisions is limited. This research aims to extend this knowledge and to assist both researchers and professionals by providing insights on how IT decisions are made and governed in healthcare organizations (HOs). This research adopts case-study methodology to investigate IT governance in two distinctly different HOs. The research findings indicate that HOs implement ITG to achieve alignment between business objectives and IT. Both HOs set up a five-stage IT decision process to identify, evaluate and prioritize IT investment ideas. They also established generic committee-structures that clearly defined roles and decision authorities to govern such process. It is suggested here that ITG in HOs is heavily influenced by strategic priorities, organizational structure, governance experience and governmental initiatives. Effective ITG in HOs is challenged by IT alignment, policy government, involvement of healthcare executives, and lack of business metrics to justify and evaluate decisions. The research proposes recommendations to address these challenges.

A proposed approach to systematically identify and monitor the corporate political activity of the food industry with respect to public health using publicly available information.

Unhealthy diets represent one of the major risk factors for non-communicable diseases. There is currently a risk that the political influence of the food industry results in public health policies that do not adequately balance public and commercial interests. This paper aims to develop a framework for categorizing the corporate political activity of the food industry with respect to public health and proposes an approach to systematically identify and monitor it. The proposed framework includes six strategies used by the food industry to influence public health policies and outcomes: information and messaging; financial incentive; constituency building; legal; policy substitution; opposition fragmentation and destabilization. The corporate political activity of the food industry could be identified and monitored through publicly available data sourced from the industry itself, governments, the media and other sources. Steps for country-level monitoring include identification of key food industry actors and related sources of information, followed by systematic data collection and analysis of relevant documents, using the proposed framework as a basis for classification of results. The proposed monitoring approach should be pilot tested in different countries as part of efforts to increase the transparency and accountability of the food industry. This approach has the potential to help redress any imbalance of interests and thereby contribute to the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.

Systematic examination of publicly-available information reveals the diverse and extensive corporate political activity of the food industry in Australia

BACKGROUND: The political influence of the food industry, referred to as corporate political activity (CPA), represents a potential barrier to the development and implementation of effective public health policies for non-communicable diseases prevention. This paper reports on the feasibility and limitations of using publicly-available information to identify and monitor the CPA of the food industry in Australia. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted for information from food industry, government and other publicly-available data sources in Australia. Data was collected in relation to five key food industry actors: the Australian Food and Grocery Council; Coca Cola; McDonald's; Nestle; and Woolworths, for the period January 2012 to February 2015. Data analysis was guided by an existing framework for classifying CPA strategies of the food industry. RESULTS: The selected food industry actors used multiple CPA strategies, with 'information and messaging' and 'constituency building' strategies most prominent. CONCLUSIONS: The systematic analysis of publicly-available information over a limited period was able to identify diverse and extensive CPA strategies of the food industry in Australia. This approach can contribute to accountability mechanisms for NCD prevention.

Accountability vertical das empresas estatais federais brasileiras

O estudo investiga a accountability vertical das empresas estatais federais brasileiras realizadas através dos portais web. Para tanto, foram levantadas, na literatura, informações relevantes para a melhor compreensão do alcance do termo accountability, de forma a permitir o desenvolvimento de modelo de análise a ser utilizado no trabalho. O modelo proposto compreende 3 dimensões: “Transparência”, “Interação e Participação” e “Prestação de Contas e Resultado” a cada dimensão corresponde um conjunto de variáveis, ponderadas junto a um painel de especialistas. Realizou-se então a análise da accountability vertical das empresas estatais através dos respectivos portais web. Constatou-se que apenas 56% das empresas estatais investigadas possuem informações relativas à accountability e que 34% dos portais web não tinham variáveis relativas às dimensões propostas no modelo. Tais constatações levam à conclusão de que há espaço para aumentar a accountability vertical das empresas estatais federais por meio dos portais web.

Accountability and yardstick competition in the public provision of education

This paper explores the institutional change introduced by the public disclosure of an education development index (IDEB, Basic Education Development Index) in 2007 to identify the e ect of education accountability on yardstick competition in education spending for Brazilian municipalities. Our results are threefold. First, political incentives are pervasive in setting the education expenditures. The spatial strategic behavior on education spending is estimated lower for lame-ducks and for those incumbents with majority support at the city council. This suggests a strong relation between commitment and accountability which reinforces yardstick competition theory. Second, we nd a minor reduction (20%) in spatial interaction for public education spending after IDEB's disclosure | compared to the spatial correlation before the disclosure of the index. This suggests that public release of information may decrease the importance of the neighbors` counterpart information on voter`s decision. Third, exploring the discontinuity of IDEB`s disclosure rule around the cut-o of 30 students enrolled in the grade under assessment, our estimates suggest that the spatial autocorrelation | and hence yardstick competition | is reduced in 54%. Finally, an unforeseen result suggests that the disclosure of IDEB increases expenditures, more than 100% according to our estimates.

Accountability como mecanismo de melhoria da gestão pública

Este trabalho tem por objetivo principal, demonstrar a importância da accountability na gestão das políticas públicas e sociais. Por meio da evolução histórica brasileira, foi verificado o trato da democracia e da participação social nas ações públicas, considerando o controle, a responsabilização e a transparência no desenvolvimento e acesso às informações das políticas públicas do Estado. Para isso, avaliou-se os controles democráticos sob a ótica dos instrumentos aplicados à alguns equipamentos públicos similares. Os equipamentos públicos utilizados para compor a análise foram: Museu Catavento, Plug Minas e Aquário Municipal de Santos, situados, respectivamente, nas cidades de São Paulo, Belo Horizonte e Santos. A partir de um estudo investigativo sobre os equipamentos, foram realizadas algumas reflexões para contribuir no fortalecimento da accountability na gestão pública.

The effects of accountability on higher education

This paper analyzes the effect of an accountability system in the Brazilian college market. For each discipline, colleges were assigned a grade that depended on the scores of their students on the ENC, an annual mandatory exam. Those grades were then disclosed to the public, giving applicants information about college quality. The system also established rewards and penalties based on the colleges’ grades. I find that the ENC had a substantial effect on different measures of college quality, such as faculty education and the proportion of full-time faculty. The detailed information from this unique dataset and the fact that the ENC started being required for different disciplines in different years allow me to control for time-specific effects, thus minimizing the bias caused by policy endogeneity. Indeed, I find strong evidence on the importance of controlling for time-specific effects: estimates of the impact of the ENC on college quality more than double when I do not take those effects into account. The ENC also affects positively the ratio between applicants and vacancies, and it decreases the faculty and the entering class sizes. The results suggest that its introduction fostered competition and favored colleges entering the market.