Baby Names and Hunting Rules...Is Canada's Latest Open Government Push Doing Enough?

BY ELISABETH FRASER | Thursday, October 31 2013

 A screenshot of Ontario's new open data website

Canada’s latest push for open data is happening in Ontario with a new Open Government initiative launched this week. It is part of the Ontario government’s efforts to increase public access to its data. Billed as, “a commitment to the people of Ontario to engage, collaborate and innovate,” the new website promoting the initiative pledges to unlock “the power of data in a digital age and partners with people to spark a new generation of ideas through easier access to information, more voices at the decision-making table and new economic opportunities powered by public information.” But does it go far enough?

Embattled Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne touts the benefits of the government’s plan on the site, saying, “Our Open Government initiative will help create the transparent, accessible government the people of Ontario deserve. This is part of our vision for One Ontario, where every voice counts.”

Wynne’s political opponents were quick to dismiss the new website as a cheap gimmick designed to distract attention from the scandal Wynne’s government currently faces involving the cancellation of two gas-plant contracts worth 1-billion-dollar-plus. “How dare they talk about open access to government information when they spent years covering up the gas plant scandal?” asked Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak before the press. Adding farce to the controversy, the October 21 launch was also notable for an unfortunately prominent spelling mistake that garnered headlines of its own.

Canada’s federal government has been pushing for more government transparency in recent years, unveiling a formal action plan in 2012. Ontario’s project is the latest in a string of Open-Data initiatives happening across the country.

Spearheading the project are the members of the Open Government “Expert Team” assembled by Wynne to hold a series of public consultations to get a better idea of what Ontarians want in terms of open data, and how best to give it to them. The team is impressive, including policy expert Donald G. Lenihan, former Liberal Party of Canada Director of Communications Leslie Church, and XMG Studio Inc. gaming guru Ray Sharma.

In an email statement to techPresident, Lenihan explained that the team will "lend our experience and expertise to identifying open government opportunities," but that their efforts will also hinge upon feedback from Ontarians "to help us identify what is important to them, how they want to engage with government, how often and on what issues." Lenihan explained, "The key to Open Government is engagement. Engaging with key stakeholders both within and outside of government; understanding open government initiatives that are already occurring in the different municipalities; identifying and sharing innovative practices and developments as a result of open government. All of this will help inform the plan that we submit to the (provincial) government in early 2014.”

David Eaves, a senior editor for techPresident is also one of the "Expert Team” members.

Eaves and his fellow committee members will spend the coming months talking to Ontarians across the province, holding a series of hearing and roundtable discussions, before compiling their recommendations into a report.

Eaves says they want to make information easily accessible to as wide a group of people as possible, including youth and seniors. “Every time someone visits a website and has a frustrating experience, that is a moment of engagement that has gone badly so why don’t we think of it in those ways?” says Eaves.

Part of the new initiative involves a website, www.onatrio.ca/open that makes government info available to the general public. So, how does the site stack up to the provincial government’s hype? Website visitors can get a lot of answers to FAQs, like what you can and can’t do during hunting and fishing season, how to contact their local representatives, and lists of popular baby names for boysand girls.

Ellie Marshall is the Communications Manager for Open North, a Canadian non-profit group dedicated to increasing citizen access to government information. While she says the website is a “useful first step,” she argues it needs to be more “robust.”

After reviewing the site, Marshall gave techPresident her feedback via e-mail, starting with the small number of available data sets. “Two hundred and thirty-six data sets is a start, but when you realize that Ontario’s top sets are baby names, clearly this isn’t data that’s going to be put to work in the economy,” she says. “We need data about spending, procurement, elections, redistricting, healthcare etc., etc. Sets that will stimulate the open-data movement are ones that effect everyday activities. Real change will come from real hard-hitting data.”

Marshall also saw limited use for the average citizen surfing the site. “I don’t see the average citizen using (or even knowing about this site),” she says. “That’s why open government tools like access to information portals, petition platforms (like the White House petitions in the states) are the next level of true open government progress. We need to engage citizens around issues that matter to them in their everyday life … not release the number of trees in a forest and wonder why there isn’t an app being made around it.”

Eaves argues the website is only a small piece of what the whole initiative is about. “That’s the least interesting thing to me,” he says. “A tiny, tiny number of people that are going to touch that website,” he says. “I’m more interested in a whole bunch of Ontarians who are hitting a whole bunch of websites every day – how do we engage them? How do we learn more about what our citizens are telling us in an online space? Eaves had no comment on accusations that Wynne’s government had transparency issues or that the project was an attempt to deflect negative criticism from the gas-plant scandal.

Perhaps only time will tell how the new initiative plays out. Eaves sees potential in the project. “There’s a balance around privacy that I want to recognize and that we want to safeguard, but there’s also an opportunity to treat those things as learning opportunities,” he says.

For Marshall, the government will need to prove it is willing to back up its words with work. “If the province wants a new generation to utilize this data, there should be some inspiration,” she says. “It’s so difficult to actually get government leaders and bureaucrats on board - because it’s about them putting in a little more time and effort to open the doors for everyone else - not something they’re all willing to do.”

Personal Democracy Media is grateful to the Omidyar Network and the UN Foundation for their generous support of techPresident's WeGov section.

On Their Terms: A Digital Project to Give Inuit Say in Developers' Arctic Ambitions

BY ELISABETH FRASER | Thursday, September 12 2013

 It's walrus season in Nunavut. (j.slein/flickr)

A new project in Canada’s north is attempting to bridge the digital divide facing Inuit communities. In doing so, it hopes to give them a say as developers move to take advantage of their resource-rich land.

“Digital Indigenous Democracy (DID) is an effort to bring the community empowerment of new media technology into remote low-bandwidth indigenous communities in Nunavut, across Canada, and around the world,” says Norman Cohn, an award-winning Canadian filmmaker who is also the project co-director, with partner Zacharias Kunuk, an Inuk filmmaker.

The idea is to provide high-speed Internet access to Inuit living in northern communities, where extremely low bandwidth access makes surfing the net a slow and cumbersome task. “These people, who most need access to these networks, have the worst cost-per-bandwidth in the civilized world,” says Cohn.

Life in the Northern communities where Canada’s Inuit live can be challenging. Traditionally, the Inuit are a hunting society. However, nowadays both global warming and opposition from animal-rights groups are negatively affecting the hunt. There are high levels of poverty, substance abuse, andsuicide. There is a housing shortage, and high levels of family violence, as well as chronic health problems like diabetes. The remote and vastly scattered locations of these villages carry distinct challenges as well, including sky-high prices on basic goods. Most places are hard to access from the south, accessible via boat during the summer, or by expensive flights year-round. And, despite federal investment to improve bandwidth access in these communities, the Internet remains very slow.

Just how slow is it? “Most people can remember how the Internet was when they first tried it out five or ten years ago, and how much faster it is now,” explains Cohn. “Use of the Internet we take for granted right now is only possible because our bandwidth has increased by hundreds of thousands of times, and at a low cost. Those speed increases have not impacted northern Inuit communities. Their Internet is among the slowest and most expensive … There is a digital divide, certainly in the Canadian North, as much as in Bangladesh.”

A screenshot of Digital Indigenous Democracy

Canada’s Inuit are one of three Canadian Aboriginal groups (the others are the Métis and First Nations). They are somewhat unique amongst Indigenous peoples in North America, because they have negotiated a self-governing agreement with the federal government of Canada. Whereas Canadian and U.S. First-Nations people often live on government reserves and receive government assistance or a special tax status, Inuit are by and large self-sufficient.

Cohn says the project is essential to help Inuit protect their rights in a new age of resource extraction. “The origins of this project are in the evolution of two enormous world developments. The one is the evolution of new media technology and its potential for social networking and political change, which we’ve seen in the Middle East,” Cohn says, referencing the Arab Spring. “And this intersects with the evolution of global warming, which has created an increase in natural resource development in the Canadian Arctic.”

Digital Indigenous Democracy has been financed and tested around a specific giant mining development (the “Mary River Project”) by the Baffinland company.

“If (the development) goes forward in its full capacity, it would be the largest mine ever in Canada,” says Cohn. DID was created in the context of Baffinland’s ongoing environmental review process, which involves consultation with local stakeholders. These talks have produced an Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement, as required by law under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.

“Our project was proposed and financed to test out this technology as a way of improving Inuit communities’ ability to participate in the decision-making process of such an enormous development that will impact these communities forever,” Cohn says. “So, we had a compelling technological concept for equal justice, but we also had a compelling urgent need for that project to take place as soon as possible.”

Started in April 2011 via Canada Media Fund financing, Digital Indigenous Democracy went live one year later, in April 2012. It runs on the ISUMA TV platform, created by Cohn and co. in 2008. The multimedia website features photographs and government information documents, as well as audio and video recordings, in English and in Indigenous languages like Inuktitut.

In addition to putting forward local content, in the form of radio programming, films and documentaries, and community news,DID has played an active part in the local consultations involving the Baffinland project. A series of radio call-in shows allowed locals to ask experts questions about the development, and Baffinland feedback collected via DID has been complied into a report, which will be presented in the next round of public hearings, tentatively scheduled to take place in mid-October.

Lloyd Lipsett is a human rights lawyer who has been participating in the public consultation process surrounding the Baffinland project. He took part in radio call-in shows the DID group organized in Igloolik, Nunavut, to answer questions and inform locals about the Baffinland project, in English and Inuktitut.

“If you want the people to be confident that the mine is benefitting them, they need to have the information to make that judgment. It’s important to recognize that the movement towards transparency in the (extractive industry) is really picking up steam,” says Lipsett, who notes the Canadian government has announced it will pass binding regulations ensuring mining companies have greater disclosure towards various levels of government, something the United States and European Union have already done.

Canadian constitutional law and international law now explicitly confirms Indigenous people have the right to be informed and consulted about any resource development that impacts their lands and their communities. According to Lispett, the new approach towards consultation offered by DID is a benefit to locals and developers alike.

Most human-rights interventions involving extraction projects happen after development has started, when things are perceived to be going badly. “Getting involved in public hearings before the project has taken place; you are taking a proactive approach,” says Lispett. “You’re dealing with all the different stakeholders, including the company itself. To talk to them in a proactive, forward-looking manner, is much more constructive then pointing your finger after, and saying, “You’re doing this wrong, you’re violating this right, or that right…We’re offering you suggestions as to how you can develop this mine in a way that is respectful to people.”

The economic stakes are significant, too."The wealth in the arctic is enormous,” says Cohn. “It’s sort of like the new Congo, but suddenly much more accessible than it ever was before. “The world has changed since King Leopold went into the Congo, but only if technology helps people take advantage of those changes. (DID) is the only way Indigenous people will get a real fair seat at the negotiating table, dividing up what everyone agrees are trillions of dollars.”

Frances Abele is a Professor of Public Policy and Public Administration at Carleton University. She is familiar with the project. She touts the community-building aspect of DID. “If you haven’t been to the North, it’s very hard to picture just how far apart everything is,” she says. “To allow people to speak to each other in real time is a really powerful change in order to have people talk about their common interests, and politics.”

“The local radio has been very, very, important for a long time, it’s the main way that people find out what’s going on, and they listen to that every day,” says Abele. “The genius of what Norman and Zacharias are doing is that they’ve been able to build on that network to create these communities.”

Mark Airut is the manager of the Igloolik radio station, now run by ISUMA since last May. He is Inuk, and echoes Abele’s praise for DID. “I think it’s really great, lots and lots of people are now following us, and now they listen to our radio all over the world,” he says. He says since ISUMA took over, the station’s workers have gone from being voluntary to paid staff, and many locals say ISUMA radio is now all they listen to. “We’re doing our best work on educational stuff,” says Airut. “It’s really successful.”

An Inuit community in Nunavut (Dcysiv Moment/flickr)

Currently, Cohn estimates the project is two-thirds completed. “Our website will play at high speed in what will eventually be ten indigenous communities,” he says. ISUMA has been hooking people up since the spring, and will continue to do so during the fall.

Underlying the entire project is the principal of open data and transparency as a tool to combat inequality. “Indigenous people see these developments as the only chance they have to get out of poverty and into the 21^st century,” says Cohn. “If all the people involved are sharing in the exploitation of the resources, then it’s not pejorative. If the people involved are being exploited, then its pejorative … Today, you cannot get away with that level of inequality unless it’s hidden from public view.”

Cohn believes DID can be a powerful tool to give Indigenous people their fair share of the pie. “If people have those tools, you cannot deny them those rights,” he says. “These communities are sitting on mountains of minerals, of gold, of uranium.” He sees a future for this project in Indigenous communities throughout the world, and notes it is in developer’s interest to properly inform and consult, or risk huge lawsuits down the road.

How much the Inuit will eventually profit from the Baffinland development remains to be seen, but Cohn is hopeful. “Indigenous people are not genetically impoverished,” he says. “If everyone owned the land they were living on, Inuit people could quite very well be rich,” he argues. “Why are Inuit peoples more like Palestinians than Saudi Arabians? In 2013, you can’t do that to people, unless you’re doing it in the dark.”

Elisabeth Fraser is a freelance Canadian journalist. She lives in Montreal.

Personal Democracy Media is grateful to the Omidyar Network and the UN Foundation for their generous support of techPresident's WeGov section.

Online Platform to Shine a Light on Scandal-Scalded Montreal Politics

BY ELISABETH FRASER | Friday, May 31 2013

 Montreal (credit: S. Lacasse/Wikimedia Commons)

As the scandal-weary residents of Quebec, Canada's Francophone province, head into a new round of municipal elections this November, one open-data group is working on a new project designed to raise awareness about transparency amongst candidates and voters.

“Really, the tool is designed to mobilize citizens to vote for politicians who are committed to transparency,” says Jonathan Brun, of the non-partisan group Montréal Ouvert (Open Montreal), the municipal chapter of larger provincial group Québec Ouvert (Open Québec).

The “tool” is set to launch June 12. Montréal Ouvert promises that it will link municipal candidates who commit to a transparent government to concerned citizens who want change.

Montréal Ouvert wants full transparency in the awarding of municipal contracts and spending of public money, and would like cities to publish a list of all the data they have on file — amongst other things. Other wish list items include the public spending records of all elected officials and listings of whom city councillors meet with.

Brun says the wish list came together based on consultation with open data groups.

“This was also inspired by other campaigns that have happened elsewhere in North America and Europe," he said, "and some questions were based on our own experiences in trying to get access to data that wasn’t available.”

A province rocked by corruption

The question of government transparency in “La belle province” is certainly a timely one. Quebec has been rocked by a series of revelations regarding long-rumoured ties between government officials, the construction industry, and organized crime, as highlighted by the ongoing Charbonneau Commission, a commission of inquiry headed by Judge France Charbonneau. The commission’s near-daily airing of dirty laundry and sordid secrets has become must-see TV for many of the province’s residents.

Amongst the seemingly endless revelations before the committee are tales of intimidation, bid-rigging, phony billing, and a widespread kickback scheme when it came to awarding city contracts. The whole messy situation has led to major shakeups at the municipal level in Montreal and surrounding municipalities. Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay was forced to resign after damning allegations suggested he willfully turned a blind eye to corruption at City Hall. And Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt of nearby Laval, to the north of Montreal, has been arrested and charged withgangsterism, amongst other things.

The stench has spread from the municipal level to the provincial level, with allegations the Liberal government of former premier Jean Charest, who ordered the Charbonneau inquiry, was part of the dirty dealings with the province’s construction industry. And most recently, the current governing Parti Québécois was also dragged into the mud, leading Québec Première Pauline Marois to not-so-subtly lean on the Commission.

Recently, the Charbonneau allegations have even reached the federal government, with the former vice-president of engineering firm Dessau Inc. saying his company routinely paid off parties at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels. And Thomas Mulcair, leader of Canada’s New Democrats, who form the Official Opposition at the federal level, was left with some explaining to do after saying he was once offered an envelope he suspected to be stuffed with cash by disgraced Mayor Vaillancourt. Mulcair says he refused the envelope and ended the meeting. He subsequently reported the incident to the police … 17 years later.

Raising awareness, encouraging voter turnout

So how can a transparency test help matters? “We have several goals,” says Brun, “and one of them is to increase voter turnout. The voter turnout in municipal elections (in Québec) is quite low, as it is in many places.” Brun also says he hopes the test will make politicians and voters consider transparency in more detail, and help make it an election issue.

Guy Lachapelle is a Professor of Political Science at Montreal’s Concordia University, and is the longstanding Secretary General of the International Political Science Association, which is based at Concordia. He looked at a draft version of the project two weeks prior to its launch. Lachapelle agrees that Montréal Ouvert's project is an effective tool in increasing awareness about government transparency. “I think candidates should be able to understand that integrity is a key element of their success,” adding, “hopefully, it will also work for civil servants in public administrations.”

However, Lachapelle remains skeptical about the authenticity of the results it will produce. “This type of test is more on the side of wishful behavior that we hope candidates will follow after being elected. Before an election, they will be all for virtue!”

And Lachapelle is unsure results will do much to increase voter confidence in the current political climate. “We hope that cynicism will fade away, but I don't think these types of questions will increase the public’s scrutiny over their administrations.”

The evaluation of candidates will be based on two kinds of questions: multiple choice — i.e., “Are you in favour X?” with answers like "Yes," "No," "Unsure," I need to research it further, and “free form” questions, which ask things such as, “What actions have you taken in your previous administrations, companies or organizations to improve transparency and accountability?” While the former questions will be answered by computer program according to a pre-set formula, the latter will be graded by the project team according to human discretion. “We are still working that part out,” says Brun. The team says they have not yet finalized their methodology and are still working with survey experts to try and address some of the challenges in conducting this exercise.

“I don't think that (the mixed grading system) will compromise the integrity of the test,” says Lachapelle. “Again, it will work more as a platform for candidates to say loudly that they will be better than their opponents.” Lachapelle nevertheless sees value in the project, for candidates who chose to participate. “It is beneficial for candidates (and not their press attachés!) to respond to these questions,” he says, predicting, “most candidates will certainly do it.”

A bloated municipal structure

Montreal’s current municipal scene is a bit of a dog’s breakfast. To begin with, the city’s municipal structure is incredibly bloated, following a failed “mega-merger” in 2002, followed by a partial de-merger in 2006, the result of which has been the city has over 100 elected municipal representatives — more than any other city in North America.

Montreal also has parties at the municipal level, making Quebec one of only two Canadian provinces to indulge in this proliferation of political options (the other is British Columbia).

Prior to the Charbonneau Commission, things were relatively stable at Montreal City Hall: Mayor Gérald Termblay’s Union Montréal party held the balance of power, while Vision Montréal, headed by Louise Harel (the architect of the city’s mergers in her previous life as a provincial cabinet minister) formed the Official Opposition. Upstart Projet Montréal, headed by colourful urban planner Richard Bergeron (who has mused about 9/11 conspiracy theories in his writings), was the last-ranked party.

But, post-Charbonneau, the once stable scene at City Hall is in chaos. Following Mayor Tremblay’s resignation, many Union councillors jumped ship to sit as independents, resulting in Montreal having its first Anglophone mayor in over 100 years — and its first-ever Jewish mayor. Remaining Union Montréal councillors quietly put the party out of its misery earlier this month to sit as independents.

Projet Montreal continues to struggle with image problems surrounding its leader’s credibility. The only borough that voted in Projet Montreal is the Plateau Mount-Royal, a trendy area similar to Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, but the party's administration has been controversial. Theirtraffic calming measures have upset some residents, and many of the artists and merchants who live in the Plateau have expressed their discontent. At one point, Plateau Mayor Luc Ferrandez (known to be hot headed) almost came to blows with the head of a local merchant’s association in the foyer of City Hall.

Vision Montreal also appears to be struggling with significant debt,. The party is losing elected officials as they defect to a new, high-profile arrival to the mayoral race.

Which brings us to Denis Coderre, a well-known federal politician and former Liberal cabinet minister who has held office for the riding of Bourassa since 1997. Coderre is known to be a showman (he is often referred to as, “Kid Coderre,” a play on the French term “Kid Kodak”, referring to someone who loves the camera). The prolific tweeter (@DenisCoderre) and media personality revealed the worst-kept secret in Montreal when he finally announced his run for Mayor at a May 16 press conference, ending months of coyly hinting at his intentions.

Exactly how many candidates will participate in the project remains to be seen. For this article, techPresident.com sent out an email about the project to current elected Montreal city officials, using a list provided by City Hall. Only two responded directly. Loyola City Councillor Susan Clarke and Saint-Laurent borough Mayor Alan deSouza (both former Union Montreal members who now sit as independents) expressed interest in the project, but did not respond prior to this article’s deadline. A spokesperson for Anie Samson, borough Mayor for Villeray – Saint-Michel-Parc Extension (who has joined Team Coderre), also responded to techPresident’s request, but did not follow up by press time. In fairness to sitting officials who responded, techPresident’s request came during a very busy period at City Hall, and many cited time constraints.

When asked what he thought of the project, de Souza responded, “Any efforts made by citizens to ensure the proper amount of transparency in public decision making are laudable.” Saying he would like more time to look at the project, de Sousa said of its ultimate effectiveness, “the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.”

A Projet Montreal candidate initially agreed to participate in the Montreal Ouvert initiative for this article, but declined after the party’s central office intervened, saying their platform was not yet ready. Montreal Ouvert say they realize some parties may provide a list of generic responses for their candidates, but plan to factor this into a candidate's results.

Ultimately, whether this project will be enough to increase voter turnout and confidence in this fractured political landscape remains to be seen. “They [Montréal Ouvert] might achieve their objectives, but who will these voters be?” asks Lachapelle. “I am not sure they will constitute a representative sample. People will vote if they think the issues at stake are high ... and I think that the issue of corruption will probably turn people off of voting.”

Elisabeth Fraser is a freelance Canadian journalist. She lives in Montreal.

Personal Democracy Media is grateful to the Omidyar Network for its generous support of techPresident's WeGov section.

Amid Grassroots Furor, Canadian Telecom Monopolies Forced to Lower Mobile Fees

BY ELISABETH FRASER | Thursday, June 6 2013

 iPhone screenshot mentioning Canadian coffee chain Tim Horton's (flickr/Matt Hurst)

A community-driven, non-profit internet group is claiming victory regarding recently-announced changes to Canadian cellphone regulations.

OpenMedia.cacommended the decision of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to allow cellphone users to break their contracts without penalty after two years, and to put a cap on additional data and roaming data charges. In addition, service providers are now required to write their customer contracts in plain(er) English.

Telecom companies have until December 2 to comply for all new contracts, a deadline the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association complains is too short.

In addition, the following day, Industry Minister Christian Paradis announced the government had ruled to block telecom giant Telus Corp.’s application to transfer Mobilicity’s spectrum assets their way in a $380 million takeover bid. Those spectrum assets will now be set aside for new entrants into the market, a long-time OpenMedia demand.

OpenMedia was among groups lobbying the CRTC on the issue. It launched an online campaign called “Demand Choice” started an online petition which to date has garnered over 56,000 signatures.

OpenMedia also submitted a report to the CRTC after it announced it would hold public hearings into Canada’s wireless code late last year. The report, titled, “Time for an Upgrade”, followed an online appeal for cell phone horror stories from fed-up Canadians.

Despite the CRTC announcement, consumer-rights advocates say Canada still has a long way to go when it comes to cell phone service. The largely de-regulated industry is monopolized by three service providers — Bell, Rogers, and Telus — which together control a whopping 94 per cent of the market. OpenMedia mounted a campaign, “Stop the Squeeze,” in protest of this dominance.

The lack of regulation and market competition has thus far left Canadian consumers getting stuck with little choice but to accept sky-high service rates, ranked amongst the highest in the developed world, according to a 2009 study from the international Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). And, if the cell phone horror stories collected by OpenMedia are to be believed, those pricey rates don’t translate into good customer service.

OpenMedia is maintaining a cautiously optimistic attitude in the face of these new developments, and it seems the minister is listening – the same day he announced the government was blocking the Telus/Mobilicity takeover, Paradis granted a one-on-one 15-minute phone interview with OpenMedia Executive Director Steve Anderson. Prior to the phone meeting, OpenMedia solicited questions for the minister from its members via social media.

I wish Paradis had answered more questions — I certainly had lots from people on social media,” wrote Anderson on his blog, post-chat. “But I think we should be thankful that Paradis has started moving in the right direction and took the time to reach out to us for a brief chat.”

OpenMedia doesn’t plan to drop the pressure on the minister, who is scheduled to unveil his new policy on the matter in June. Anderson’s blog post end with the words, “More soon … Now it's time for some action.”

Elisabeth Fraser is a freelance Canadian journalist. She lives in Montreal

Personal Democracy Media is grateful to the Omidyar Network for its generous support of techPresident's WeGov section.

Trying to Prosecute Online Piracy in Canada? Good Luck!

BY ELISABETH FRASER | Wednesday, June 12 2013

 Google image via Allen Mendelsohn's blog.

A private firm that is monitoring Canadians who download pirated content online has found itself at the center of a legal battle.

Canipre, a firm based in Montreal, Quebec, has spent the past few months monitoring illegal downloaders. Their managing director, Barry Logan, says they now have more than a million“evidence files”. A U.S-based movie company, Voltage Pictures, is before the Ontario courts trying toget their hands on those files. Teksavvy, an Internet service provider, has intervened to stop Voltage, since — surprise, surprise — many of the IP addresses Canipre has collected belong to Teksavvy clients.

“I think that Teksavvy is right to protect their client's information. Canipre is on a fishing expedition and nothing more,” says Travis McCrea, Leader of the Pirate Party of Canada, a political party which supports things like net neutrality and online privacy rights. McCrae dismisses Canipre as “copyright trolls” and says going after individuals accused of pirating will clog up Canadian courts with frivolous cases.

Following the news of Voltage’s lawsuit, the Pirate Party conducted their own online investigation. In partnership with TorrentFreak, they decided to have a closer look at what Industry Canada (the federal government’s industry department) and the national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were up to online.

“Our investigation has revealed that quite a lot of unlicensed material has been downloaded from within both the RCMP and Industry Canada,” the Pirate Party writes on their website. Movies Canada’s leading industry workers and top cops are downloading appear to include The Fast and the Furious, The Smurfs, and Hunger Games.

“You can find 'piracy' almost anywhere, but the problem is the inability to track it down to a single person,” says McCrae. “An IP address means nothing, there are plenty of open WiFi networks, and even closed WiFi networks are not difficult to break into.”

It seems doubtful that Voltage’s case will lead to major changes in the penalties Canadians will face for online piracy. Bill C-11, passed last year, placed a cap of $5,000 (CAD) on what Canadians could be fined for downloading illegal content. That’s in sharp contrast to the United States, where citizens can face massive fines or even jail time for pirating content.

John Jordan is a Montreal-based musician who says he often downloads movies and TV shows online. He’s unconcerned about the court case. “If I realized that my ISP (address) could be next on their list, and they could come after me and get my records, I don’t know if I would change my downloading,” he says. “I might just stand my ground and fight.”

“I truly believe that the courts will rule in favour of Teksavvy, but I also am aware that courts are sometimes naive [about] how technology works,” says McCrae, who describes his attitude as, “cautiously optimistic." But he says that even if Voltage succeeds in obtaining Canipre’s data, he expects fines will be “minimal,” as Canada’s intellectual property rights laws are “pretty lax,” adding, “I don’t see how Canipre’s business model is going to work.”

For his part, Jordan remains unworried in the face of a Voltage victory, no matter how unlikely. In the event that would happen, “There would probably be someone who would rise to the occasion and would launch a class action suit against (Canipre), and I would like to think I’d be part of that.” At worst, Jordan laughs, “I’m out $5,000. And they can have fun coming after me for that.”

Elisabeth Fraser is a freelance Canadian journalist. She lives in Montreal.

Personal Democracy Media is grateful to the Omidyar Network for its generous support of techPresident's WeGov section.

Yemeni Activist Seeks Refuge in Canada After Announcing "I'm Queer" On His Blog

BY ELISABETH FRASER | Tuesday, July 9 2013

 Ala'a Jarban (screenshot from YouTube video)

A gay Yemeni blogger is seeking asylum in Canada, saying he fears for his safety if he returns home.

Ala’a Jarban is a 23-year old activist who participated in the 2011 Yemen revolution and created ablog that allowed LGBT Yemenis to post anonymously about their experiences. While in Montreal for a conference on international human-rights training run by human-rights group Equitas, Jarban came out in a post published on his blog, declaring, “I’m Queer."

Jarban is no stranger to activism and controversy. His role in the Arab Spring, both on the ground and online, was prominent, and he was an organizer in protests against then-President Ali Abdullah Selah, who was toppled during the unrest. But his newfound notoriety has caused some backlash.

Ala'a Jarban narrates a video about the political and human rights situation in Yemen

Reaction from the online community was swift - while many applauded Jarban’s decision, others (including former revolutionary allies), were quick to condemn him in the comments section of his blog. This is perhaps unsurprising, considering traditional Yemeni attitudes towards homosexuality.

Yemen’s record on LGBT rights can be charitably described as appalling. Homosexuality is illegal in the country, which still employs the death penalty. The Yemeni government’s official line is that there are no homosexuals in Yemen. While Jarban’s coming-out would seemingly blow that theory to bits, the government was quick to say that his was an isolated case.

Since coming out and seeking refugee status in Canada, Jarban has made changes to his online profile. While he still maintains an active Twitter account (@AJYemen) and curates his blog, his Facebook page has been deactivated. In an interview with CBC news, Jarban said he shut down his Facebook page because of the hateful online comments he received after coming out were, “unbearable.” Jarban did not respond to Twitter and email requests to be interviewed for this piece.

Janet Dench is the Executive Director of the Canadian Council of Refugees. She says cases like Jarban’s are increasingly common in Canada. “Canada has a strong tradition for a number of years of recognizing claims based on sexual orientation, and there have been many such claims made since it was recognized as being part of a social group since the mid-90s,” she says.

Dench says some refugee claimants face difficulties in gathering proof. “Decision-makers want to be sure that people are not pretending to be gay in order to get refugee status,” Dench says. “If you’re lived in a very homophobic society it may take time to even have the confidence to speak to your lawyer or your contacts about something you have been trying to hide your whole life.” But Dench does not predict this will be a problem in Jarban’s case.

“Sometimes evidence of persecution against gay and lesbian groups can be hard to prove in some countries — although in Yemen that is likely not the case,” says Dench. “Certainly, the Middle East is one of the regions where it’s very difficult for people to live openly as a member of a sexual minority.”

While Jarban waits to learn if his refugee application will be accepted, his supporters are offering him encouragement online. “Good stuff Alaa, best wishes,” wrote one Twitter user, adding, “Breaking the wall of silence & terror for gays in #yemen is an historical accomplishment.”

Elisabeth Fraser is a freelance Canadian journalist. She lives in Montreal.

Personal Democracy Media is grateful to the Omidyar Network and the UN Foundation for their generous support of techPresident's WeGov section.

Idle No More, a Canadian Social Justice Movement, Goes Viral On and Offline

BY ELISABETH FRASER | Friday, January 25 2013

 Idle No More demonstration in Washington, D.C. (credit: Jonathon Reed/Flickr )

Canada’s aboriginals, also known as the First Nations, are facing off against the federal government over proposed changes to environmental regulations laws, as well as a slew of other issues primarily related to social justice and aboriginal rights. Social media is driving the movement with the Twitter hashtag #IdleNoMore. It has spread throughout North America, with solidarity demonstrations inMinnesotta and New York eliciting frequent comparisons to the Occupy movement. But has this new social justice movement drifted from its original purpose?

Idle No More was formed in late November to protest budgetary Bill C-45, which included several clauses slashing government oversight and regulation of environmental matters. It gained momentum via social media platforms and is now a widely reported story that is familiar to at least two thirds of Canadians, according to a recent poll.

So far, INM protesters have used social media to organize rallies and flashmobs, usually characterized by traditional aboriginal drumming and dancing. They have also blockaded rail lines and sat in outside the prime minister’s office. Idle No More members frequently post harsh criticism of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government on social media platforms.

Idle No More flash mob at a shopping mall in Edmonton, Canada

On December 11, soon after INM launched, Chief Theresa Spence, the elected leader of the impoverished Attawapiskat reserve in northern Ontario (population: roughly 1,500), set up a
teepee on Victoria Island in the capital city of Ottawa, near the federal government’s headquarters on Parliament Hill. Spence announced she was commencing a hunger strike until the prime minister, provincial premiers (similar to state governors), and the governor general (Queen Elizabeth's representative in Canada) agreed to meet with her. It later emerged that Spence, who will reportedlyend her fast on January 24, has been consuming a liquid diet of fish broth and tea.

While the Idle No More movement and Chief Spence’s fast are not directly linked, many INM activists support Chief Spence. An Idle No More flag flies over the gated compound where the teepee sits.

“Idle No More just happened to come at the same time,” says Attawapiskat resident Danny Metawabin. He added that the INM and Chief Spence with her hunger strike were “working towards a common cause.”

Spence's town of Attawapiskat first made headlines last winter, when the media reported dire living conditions on the reserve, including lack of heating and indoor plumbing. The federal government responded by saying they had provided over 90 million dollars of funding to Attawapiskat since coming to office.

“We are doing this to call for a spiritual awakening, not just from the government of Canada, but from the provincial governments, to honor our treaty rights,” says Danny Metatawabin.

Spence has not addressed the media since an independent audit of the town’s books ordered by the federal government was leaked to the press. The report, compiled by Deloitte Consulting, found that over 80 per cent of the town’s spending was improperly or incompletely documented. Spenceslammed the report as a “distraction” and hasn’t made a public statement since. A techPresident reporter tried to visit the Victoria Island compound, but was thrown out when she asked questions.

But Chief Spence does communicate via social media. Most recently, she, or one of the people who has access to her Twitter account (@ChiefTheresa) called Conservative senator Patrick Brazeau(@TheBrazman), who is also an aboriginal activist, a "typical colonized Indian asshole."

The tweet set off waves of commentary and was reported on the website of a national news outlet.

Since beginning her fast, Spence has been accused of sabotaging the Idle movement. Cracks have appeared within the First Nations peoples. Spence refused to meet Prime Minister Harper, but Shawn Atelo, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, went ahead and accepted an invitation to meet the PM. Atelo later came under heavy criticism for breaking ranks and subsequently took a leave of absencefrom work.

Idle No More founders are ill at ease with Chief Spence’s campaign and the role she has developed amongst the movement’s followers.

Meanwhile, critics charge that Idle No More has vague and competing goals and is doomed to fail — much like the Occupy movement.

Daniel Salée, a professor of political science at Montreal’s Concordia University, has been monitoring the Idle No More movement, which he supports. He says there are indeed many similarities between Idle No More and Occupy. “Like Occupy, it’s non-hierarchical,” he told techPresident. “It’s a large group of people who are fed up, but who cannot necessarily agree on what they are fed up about.”

Salée says the impact of social media on the movement is likely exaggerated. “As Marshall McLuhan said, ‘the medium is the message’, and I think people need to remember that social media is more a medium than anything else.”

Salée pointed out that many of the First Nations people living in remote communities do not have easy access to the Internet. Neverthless, Salée agreed that in the cases of Occupy and Idle, “Social media has the power to accelerate the pace of mobilization.”

Tori Cress manages the Facebook page for Idle No More’s Ottawa chapter. She say social media has played a “significant role” in mobilizing the Idle movement. Cress is from the Ojibway First Nations tribe and lives on Mohawk territory in Muskoka, Ontario. She joined the Idle No More Movement after getting in touch with its founders and learning about Bill C-45.

Cress now spends her days monitoring the page for inappropriate or racist comments. “Basically I’m policing our page,” she says. “I constantly do it, daily. If I can’t sleep, I’m up checking it.” Cree says the time she spends on the Facebook page is equivalent to the time she spends at her full-time job.

She says it’s normal there are many different voices emerging within the Idle movement. “I think a lot of people saw how it (INM) could be useful to them,” she said "We all need clean water, we all need clean land, it’s not just one reserve or another, it’s an international problem,” She added, “I haven’t seen anyone whose heart isn’t in the right place. There’s not one group that’s doing something wrong, they’re just doing things different.”

Whether the movement actually succeeds in effecting real change remains to be seen. Salée is skeptical for the time being. “The downfall of the movement could be that, like Occupy, it resists institutionalizing itself … You look at Occupy, and where is it now? The 99 per cent had their say, and then it petered out.”

But Salée admits there is still the chance Idle No More will bring real change. “Success is measured in real time,” he says. “So, maybe Idle No More can be the beginning of changes that we’ll see years from now. Because definitely, there do need to be changes.”

Cress remains optimistic. “I want to see unity,” she says. “I want the leaders join together with the grassroots movement and all work together and be speaking the same language — we need to be backing each other up instead of tearing each other down.”

Elisabeth Fraser is a freelance Canadian journalist.

Personal Democracy Media is grateful to the Omidyar Network for its generous support of techPresident's WeGov section.