The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth: Saving Canada’s Democracy and Building Trust With the Public Through Planning, Public Performance Reporting, and Citizen Engagement

One of the defining characteristics of a representative democracy is a commitment to public accountability and transparency to the public it serves. The need for governments to demonstrate accountability and transparency to the public is increasing, particularly in times when financial resources are not abundant and public needs and expectations are increasing. This study explores public accountability and transparency within the planning and performance reporting realm in public sector organizations at all levels of government: Federal, provincial, and regional in Canada. The research question, “How might planning and performance reporting practices and processes be used by government organizations to facilitate learning, encourage higher levels of citizen engagement and participation, and promote accountability and transparency?” generated results that indicate the need for improvements in public accountability, transparency, citizen engagement, and public performance reporting, and further unveiled the need to evaluate and assess an overarching political culture that is currently not conducive to making positive change. An interdisciplinary, constructivist epistemological approach was adopted, using an appreciative-oriented inquiry to interview 26 individuals consisting of 15 senior government bureaucrats, seven auditors, and four politicians. Planning and public performance reporting is indeed an avenue to connect with the public, to begin a journey of building trust with the public, and to ensure democratic principles remain intact. This can only come with a commitment to shifting a political culture that has become increasingly adversarial and driven by the pursuit of power as a primary goal.

Author dc:creator

• Bowerman, Tanya, Jean

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Rowe, Wendy

• College of interdisciplinary studies

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25316/ir-20321

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10613/28751