WORKSHOP F - PARLIAMENTS AND PMOs


of political understanding, and as such Parliament has to ensure that information is explained and put into context. In this regard, public participation and education is critical. Two PMOs in Canada publicly supported the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness which intended to provide a common standard for PMOs. These were Openparliament.ca and Citizenbridge. org. Other citizens use less formal web-based platforms which are run by groups of independent citizens. However SamaraCanada offers a special contribution for public education because it is dedicated to research and education about Parliament, politics, and public participation in Canada.


Governments and Legislatures around the world have started to experiment with a variety of modern ways to communicate with citizens and encourage their involvement in politics. Parliament plays a role in bridging the gap between elected


officials and the public not only by informing but by educating them. Members of Provincial Parliaments (MPPs) and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario have incorporated new technologies in their routines, and MPPs are making use of ICTs, especially social media, to reach out to citizens. Ontario has a fair history on the usage of technology whereby legislative procedures have been recorded.


Improving parliamentary performance in a tech-enabled world


Mr Scott Hubli from the National Democratic Institute (NDI) acknowledged the progress that the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association has achieved in implementing the Recommendations for Transparent Governance and the Recommended Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures. These have since been replicated in other parliamentary associations and


276 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Four


other countries have used the CPA benchmarks to review their own institutional performance.


He indicated that PMOs in other countries continued to monitor the work of Parliaments and as a result citizens are increasingly using ICTs, including mobile and social media in their daily lives. As a result Parliaments, Parliamentarians and PMOs are using ICTs to enhance the ability of citizens to provide inputs into the work of Parliament. With the increase usage of technology, Parliaments have to respond to the new security risks. As a result of ensuring transparency and access to information for citizens, the CPA established a study group which developed the recommended benchmarks in order to help Parliaments measure themselves, in their own reform and modernization efforts to make Parliaments more effective and democratic institutions. The Study group made the recommendations on the following


issues:


• Refining the benchmarks: They called for the review of the bench- marks in order to ensure that they provided an opportunity for dialogue between the CPA Parliaments and Commonwealth PMOs; these should not be overly prescriptive. • Parliamentary openness: The study group called for the govern- ment and public bodies to attend the problems of secrecy, they also called for Parliamentarians to promote and support openness by being open themselves. They also indicated that Parliament should lead in opening up its own practices and procedures to the general public. The development of ICT brought to light the openness and divulgence of greater information in open formats. The PMOs were there to help Parliament effectively carry out their oversight responsibil- ity. As a result they had requested that the “open date” principle which was contained in the Declaration on


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