Citizens who are dissatisfied with Ontario's electoral system will have their say this fall. Inspired by British Columbia's experiment in 2004, Ontario followed suit in 2006 by convening a Citizens' Assembly for the first time in its history. Randomly selected, 103 citizens were canvassed to study the intricacies of electoral systems and make recommendations for reform.
The nanny state's days are numbered. For over a century, government's top-down approach has created a culture of control and programmed public expectations that the state is responsible for solving society's problems. There are many complex social problems today that can't be solved by issuing edicts from office towers in Ottawa. Obesity, racism, economic sustainability: these are issues that need to be tackled communally by diverse players at all levels to change attitudes and behaviour.
Health care regionalization has marched its way province by province across Canada, with Ontario coming up last. Today, there are about 103 regional health authorities. Under the auspices of Canada Health Infoway, the provinces are driving the federal e-health agenda to digitize the components needed ultimately for electronic health records (EHRs).
Now over two years into reorganization along regional lines, Ontario's 14 fledgling LHINs (Local Health Integration Networks) must learn to speak with one voice and their systems must talk to one another. Their impact is being felt in many areas and will continue to grow as they integrate disjointed parts into a provincial system.
The common good is back in fashion. Across North America, from San Francisco to Fredericton, more than 200 crusading cities are building municipal Wi-Fi networks. Boosting business, providing Web access for poorer citizens, creating communal communications infrastructures: different cities have different missions driving their Wi-Fi projects.
The common good is back in fashion. Across North America, from San Francisco to Fredericton, more than 200 crusading cities are building municipal Wi-Fi networks. Boosting business, providing Web access for poorer citizens, creating communal communications infrastructures: different cities have different missions driving their Wi-Fi projects.
An emergency is no time to be playing telephone tag or leaving garbled voicemail messages. The marriage of automated messaging with geographic information systems (GIS) technology can boost the public sector's ability to do reliable, pinpointed emergency communications of the right information to the right people.