Post Tagged with: "digital issues"

Digital Issues Largely Missing From Ontario Election Campaign

The Ontario election campaign kicked off last week with the Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, and NDP promoting their policy platforms and quickly jumping into debates on the economy, health care and education. While the dominance of those three issues is unsurprising, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes those Ontarians hoping for some discussion of digital policy were bound to be a bit disappointed.

The Liberal platform references the importance of jobs in the technology and media sectors, but offers little else on the digital economy. The Progressive Conservatives are the only party to make a commitment to open government – their platform follows developments in many other jurisdictions that pledge to make government data more readily available for public use – but other digital issues are ignored. The NDP makes no reference to digital policies at all.

The federal government tends to lead on digital policies, though its much-anticipated digital economy strategy is months overdue. Yet for constitutional reasons that grant the provinces jurisdiction over property and civil rights, many important issues fall to the provinces.

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September 13, 2011 11 comments Columns

Digital Issues Largely Missing From Ontario Election Campaign

Appeared in the Toronto Star on September 11, 2011 as Digital Issues Largely Missing From Ontario Election Campaign The Ontario election campaign kicked off last week with the Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, and NDP promoting their policy platforms and quickly jumping into debates on the economy, health care and education. While […]

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September 13, 2011 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive

Digital Issues Deserve a Spot in Election Campaign

With a federal election now set for October 14th, the coming weeks will be dominated by political debate as each party seeks to make their case to voters across the country. My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that the election mode marks an important role reversal – after months of Canadians working to gain the attention of their elected officials, those same politicians will be knocking on doors, making phone calls, and participating in all-candidates meetings in an effort to seek them out.

The 2008 election therefore presents an exceptional opportunity to raise the profile of digital issues.  Not only do these policies touch on so-called core concerns such as the economy, the environment, education, and health care, but they also resonate with younger Canadians, who could help swing the balance of power in many ridings. In the United States election, both Barack Obama and John McCain have unveiled detailed digital policy positions.  Canadian leaders have yet to promote their policies, but there are at least five worth watching and asking about.

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September 8, 2008 21 comments Columns

Digital Issues Deserve a Spot in Election Campaign

Appeared in the Toronto Star on September 8, 2008 as Digital Issues Deserve a Spot in Election Campaign With a federal election now set for October 14th, the coming weeks will be dominated by political debate as each party seeks to make their case to voters across the country. The […]

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September 8, 2008 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive