It is hard to tell what actions (or failures to act) I found most disappointing from the past government. There are so many to choose from, as frequent readers can attest.<\/p>\n
CASL<\/a> – Canada’s Anti-Spam Law – ranks right up there among the most anti-business acts by a conservative government. Once named in an Orwellian fashion as the Electronic Commerce Protection Act, for some reason CASL was given immunity<\/a> from the government’s red-tape reduction<\/a> provisions that, among other provisions, dictate “When a new or amended regulation increases the administrative burden on business, regulators are required to offset \u2013 from their existing regulations \u2013 an equal amount of administrative burden cost on business<\/a>.”<\/p>\n But, even worse than CASL was the complete failure by three successive Industry Ministers to develop and articulate a national digital strategy that is a root cause of CASL’s over-reach, among so many other problems. It was a failure to demonstrate real digital leadership.<\/p>\n Tuesday’s Toronto Star cited<\/a> an internal report prepared for the Treasury Board that says “Fifteen years ago, Canada placed first worldwide in e-government services; today the UN e-government survey ranks Canada as 11th.” According to the Star’s report<\/a>, in 2013 the Auditor General found access to government online services had not significantly expanded since 2005.<\/p>\n It was in 2010 that then Industry Minister (and future head of the Treasury Board) Tony Clement launched a consultation on the digital economy<\/a>. It took 4 years for the government to pull together a document that was little more than a campaign pamphlet. The digital economy was left “drifting aimlessly<\/a>” as I wrote in late 2013. That blog post<\/a> details the missed deadlines and failures to demonstrate meaningful digital economy leadership by successive Industry Ministers. It is a depressing read.<\/p>\n It is encouraging that the new Treasury Board President, Scott Brison, is reviewing the digital delivery of government services. We need a more comprehensive digital strategy with policy directions to guide administrative and regulatory bodies that oversee the telecommunications and broadcasting industries and issues of privacy and intellectual property rights.<\/p>\n In December, I wrote<\/a>:<\/p>\n Do Governments really get power of disruptive global apps? Should regulators forbear to allow legacy industries to adapt? Do markets work?<\/p>\n \u2014 Mark Goldberg (@Mark_Goldberg) December 14, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
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