Results from this edition of Rethinking Citizen Engagement reveal a continued and, arguably, strengthened case for increased citizen engagement.
The federal government’s ‘scorecard’ on engagement and consultation is up in a very significant manner, as is trust in the federal government. There is, however, a strong case for further strengthening federal performance in the area of consultations. Although marks are up, performance is still well short of importance; and there are still large portions of the citizenry who are unhappy with government performance in this area (particularly poor marks are assigned to providing Canadians with an opportunity to input into government decision-making). Survey results also reveal that there are still strong reservoirs of negative outlook on government in terms of governments not caring about the views of average citizens, and this cynicism is more prevalent among older and more economically vulnerable Canadians. [More...]