During election time, I have a tradition to review published political platforms. To date only 3/5 parties have published these as seen below. In 1/5 I review what the Liberal pitch.

  1. Liberal Party of Canada – Canada Strong, Document, website
  2. Bloc Québécois – Choisir le Québec, Document, website
  3. Green Party of Canada – Change, Vote for it, Document, website
  4. Conservative Party of Canada – Canada First for a Change – Document????, website
  5. New Democratic Party of Canada – Made for People, Built for Canada – Document???, website

My methodological process is very rudimentary, guerrilla testing like & expedient: I download the document, I peruse, do a word search for data related matters, take some screen captures & count the incidence of the use of the term & do a cursory assessment of the term is used for some context.

1/5 the Liberal Party of Canada Platform

Here is what I saw in the Liberal Party of Canada, Canada Strong Platform. This is what I look at:

  • openness, followed by
  • mis/disinformation,
  • connectivity,
  • earth observation, followed by
  • data, technology, AI and
  • digital closing with
  • other data & technology related topics
  • full count

Openness

I have been watching openness since the early 2000s, especially during the Harper years (2006-2011) & especially after the cancellation of the long-form Census (2011) and during COVID. Openness was prominent in platforms in 2006 but alas, no it is more. Not even ethics! This is of concern as w/so much new money going into data, digital, AI, Innovation and technology projects, one would think that accountability in terms of procurement and contracting; as is transparency and ethics. It is most disconcerting as the platform mentions reducing ‘red tape’ in terms of technology & digital & AI procurement. Open science, is also absent, odd considering the focus on AI and the 3 main AI centres and the AI Data Act. Science is mentioned in terms of R & D & investment, but alas, not the social sciences (0) and universities were mentioned twice but only Nunangat University and the First Nations University while data science or critical data science education were not discussed. There is also nothing about measuring the impact of investments and related indicators to monitor the progress of decisions.

  • Open Data = 0
  • Open Government = 0
  • Open Science = 0
  • Ethics = 0
  • Indicators = 0
  • Accountability = 2 (w/CBC)
  • Transparency = 4 (w/labeling in supply chains, risk disclosure for energy, corporate taxes & budget)
  • Science = 6 (R&D, investment in startups, research)

Mis/Disinformation & fake news

Mis/Disinformation & fake news have been of concern during elections since Brexit & the Cambridge Analytica Scandal as discussed in the 2018 UK Information Commissioner Office Democracy Disrupted: Personal information and political influence. Elections Canada has also been monitoring the social media information ecosystem for interference as seen in their Democratic Processes–Protecting Against Threats to the Electoral Process. This is such an important sovereignty issue, and considering that sovereignty was mentioned 42 times in the platform. This is what I counted:

  • Social Media = 0
  • Misinformation = 0
  • Data Brokers = 0
  • Ethics = 0
  • AI (the role of) = 0 (even though there is important investment)
  • Disinformation = 2 (w/against US media & tools to track – both CBC)

Connectivity

Connectivity is required to move data, and I would have expected a conversation about communication satellites especially in light of the cancellation of Starlink contracts & conversations of digital sovereignty, high costs, and AI investment & compute needs, but alas only 1 mention of rural broadband, 1 for high speed but in the context of AI, but not internet nor the digital divide. Data centres are mentioned twice but not cloud computing, while AI is mentioned 30 times. How are data supposed to move without infrastructure investment in connectivity with all the new data centres and new monies in this field? In terms of infrastructure only 2 of the 55 mentions, discussed connectivity. Also, what of Indigenous communities and connecting the North, even with addtional EO monitoring and surveillance?

  • Broadband = 1 (rural)
  • Internet = 0
  • Digital Divide = 0
  • Cloud computing = 0
  • High speed = 1 (w/AI)
  • Data Centres = 2 (w/AI, industry)
  • Satellites = 2 (Monitor the North, Monitor the Oceans & w/GPS & Drones)
  • Infrastructure = 55 (53 for hard & social infrastructure, 1 w/digital & 1 high speed)

Earth Observation(EO) w/ Eyes in the sky

Earth Observation w/ Eyes in the sky as in radar and earth observation (EO) satellites are back, they were a political issue in 2017 when the sale of Radarsat to Lockheed Martin was stopped for sovereignty reasons, and now satellites, drones, GPS and radar to monitor borders, coasts, the North, The Arctic, the seas, the air and underwater tool. The remote sensing folks might get a major R & D boost and the platform is mostly about the North.

  • Radar = 2 (w/monitoring the Arctic)
  • Satellites = 2 (Monitor the North, Monitor the Oceans & w/GPS & Drones)
  • Drones = 3 (persistence presence in the Arctic, to survey the seas and boders)

Data & Technology

Data & Technology, data are inseparable from the tools & technologies used to create and generate them and in this platform, arguably most of the big promises involve data and systems to management them, including supply chains and logistics, and of course EO technologies part of these. Here I focus on what was mentioned, not what is implied as Data (15), AI (30), Technology (27) & Digital (12).

  • Data (15) – this is the first time I see data & sovereignty mentioned but limited to monitoring transactions to protect the economy and cross border data exchange, it is also mentioned in terms of sharing & access to health care data where they can follow you regardless of which jurisdiction you are in, the usual suspects such as data storage, data centres, and data analysis for surveillance are mentioned, but also data collection to monitor the environment, & women’s health. There is no mention of data governance, or of a data strategy, nor the means to protect people from the harms of data brokers, AI, mental health apps and so on and no mention of open data!
  • AI (30) – There is no AI without data, thus the surprise at the lack of data governance and a data strategy, but also, there ought to also no AI without ethics! The Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) is also not mentioned, but AI in terms of AI military support, surveillance & security, (6), Canadian economy and innovation (3); AI infrastructure, AI-powered data analysis to protect shores, AI to monitor & protect fresh water, AI to support innovation, AI to ensure competitiveness, AI for better service deliverly, AI & Energy, investment in AI training, adoption & commercialization, AI tax incentives, AI to support AI research such as Mila, Vector, Amii (how did they get such an honourable mention?) & AI to grow the ecosystem; AI procurement & a new Office of Digital Transformation, the support for mid-level career AI education, AI & cybersecurity, AI to improve the public service delivery. This is a very technologically solutionist & industry & approach, but not much in the way of AI for wellbeing; there is not discussion of AI & its ecological footprint, & AIDA. The new office of Digital Transformation is of concern as it is about centralizing, speeding up decisions and reducing red tape in terms of AI procurement
  • Technology (27) – although frequently mentioned, it is not so much ICTs, and when it is, it is for advanced R & T and defence BOREALIS; drone fleets; AI tech solutions, fraud detection solutions for CRA, for the public service and water security technology, the rest are green tech, clean tech, carbon storage related tech (3) and as capital investment. The bulk of the technology discussion is surveillance and the military, but it is very nice to see a focus on green tech and clearly AI is tech but they are not mentioned together often.
  • Digital (12) – Here it is about building a digital AI infrastructure, digital supply chains, digital tools for the news, digitalization, digital health, marine digital solutions, digital innovations & patents, improving the public service with a new Office of Digital Transformation to improve the Canadian tech sector but also to reduce red tape, and we know how well that is going in the south!!! .

Other data & technology related topics

Here are frequently mentioned topics that are related to data, but alas, I had to stop somewhere in terms of analysis. It is surprising though that Digital Sovereignty is not a major issue!

  • Climate (28) Supply chain (14), Carbon (20), Net-Zero (2) and of course Sovereignty (42) but not data sovereignty.

The full list in order of the # of mentions in the Liberal Platform.

  • Open Data = 0
  • Open Government = 0
  • Open Science = 0
  • Social Media = 0
  • Cloud computing = 0
  • Data Brokers = 0
  • Digital Divide = 0
  • Ethics = 0
  • Indicators = 0
  • Internet = 0
  • Misinformation = 0
  • Broadband = 1 (rural)
  • Connectivity = 1 (w/electricity)
  • High speed = 1 (w/AI)
  • Data Centres = 2 (w/AI, industry)
  • Disinformation = 2 (w/against US media & tools to track – both CBC)
  • Radar = 2 (w/monitoring the Arctic)
  • Satellites = 2 (Monitor the North, Monitor the Oceans & w/GPS & Drones)
  • Accountability = 2 (w/CBC)
  • Drones = 3 (underwater & air & borders)
  • Transparency = 4 (w/labeling in supply chains, risk disclosure for energy, corporate taxes & budget)
  • Science = 6 (R&D, investment in startups, research)
  • Digital = 12 (see breakdown below)
  • Data = 15 (see breakdown below)
  • Technology = 27 (see breakdown below)
  • Climate = 28 (see breakdown below)
  • Artifical Intelligence (AI) = +/-30 (see breakdown below)
  • Infrastructure = 55 (53 for hard & social infrastructure, 1 w/digital & 1 high speed)
  • New concepts I do not recall ever being so prominent:
    • Climate (28) Supply chain (14), Carbon (20), Net-Zero (2) and of course Sovereignty (42).

That is all for now folks, happy easter!

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Legally??? vandalizing national government administrative platforms/enterprise databases/registries by automating falsehoods in a unique identifier (UID) master files that triggers a domino effect that locks people out of essential services and their finances to pressure them to self-deport!

The UID in question is the US social security #, issued by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to US citizens, permanent residents and temporary working residents. This data driven tactic by DOGE was incredibly simple for any data scientists to see and do while being incredibly deleterious to many. All DOGE data scientists had to do was,

This action delinks/cuts them off/from any service related to that number which maybe anything under the purview of the SSA such as Medicare, benefits, retirement funds, disability support etc. or anything that requires a Social Security as ID such as credit, bank accounts, salary, and more. This is tampering with personal information (PI) and the official records of the state to trigger a domino effect of nefarious and harmful actions. This in effect, terminates the financial lives of those put onto the death list by DOGE.

The SSA is collaborating with the Department of Homeland Security – tagline ‘making America safe again’ and with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Internal Revenue Agency (IRS) that tried to resist but it was futile as it was taken over by DOGE. The proliferation of lists, such as a terrorist watch list, for which there are many, or F.B.I. criminal records list, which one might be on erroneously – think Maher Arar in Canada or Kilmar Ábrego García in the US, or you get on them because DOGE introduce errors. Regardless, even if you are rightly on the naughty list, due process ought to still matter – the US is sounding more like Duterte and other dictators, but alas I digress.

Tampering with ‘master files’ is a no no for data managers, records managers and archivists; these are official records that ought to be accurate, reliable and authentic. Are there copies of these databases? Can they be returned to their original state? Are logs kept in the enterprise systems of actions taken and by whom and when? Even if data were officially archived, the US Archivist has been fired, putting at risk the institution legally and historically authorized to maintain the memory of the nation. Ought the Rule of Law Tools in Post Conflict States for Archives apply? Who would take those records and keep them safe, who would scurry them off to safety?

Colloquially, this is called juking the stats, a term coined by the Wire, whereby the police in the show reclassify violent crimes to be lesser ones to meet their tough on crime targets and the education system in poor performing schools teach to pass tests and not to educate. But that is not strong enough, even though the harms are comperable.

In critical data studies,

From a technical perspective, are linked data and interoperability friends or foe, why is it so easy to for DOGE to get access to the public administration’s enterprise systems and how is that legal?

For a history of the Social Security # and how it was initially resisted, perhaps presciently, read The Known Citizen by Sarah Igo, here is a Harvard Magazine article about her work.

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Classes for the 2025 term have ended. A ritual, before each class, 4 classes per year X 12 or 13 weeks, for the last 4 years or so, has been to start with a warmup, where we chat about data in the world, or tek talk in the world, or with an information souk, mostly about things that either relate directly to the day’s topic, or the theme of the class with the odd whimsy in there for good measure. When term ends, I miss creating this weekly roundup. So Here I am, back to the space, where the early days of open data all started, on DataLibre.ca. I will endeavour to do a bit more of this to get the kinks out in terms of writing and to share, as I must say, all the things we critical data studies scholars pointed out, well, are becoming far too real, and this moment ought to be more overtly discussed, so that we do not forget as we build new data systems, and manage the old, and consider what might happen if we do not govern and protect for the wellbeing of people and sentient beings.

To start, today, I came across a knitting clock, it is not a new piece, but one, that materializes time, and there are no data without time. I was once asked if data have an essence, I still think about that question, the best I can do for now is to say that there are many components and attributes to the whole and the parts of the assemblages that constitute data. There is no doubt, however, that time is one of these components, and of course data are data when they are recorded some how, and the database need not be a computer. So I come back with serendipity and whimsy with this lovely piece by Siren Elise Wilhelmsen and her 365 KNITTING CLOCK.

"365 Knitting Clock stitches time as it passes by. It knits 24 hours a day, one year at the time, presenting the physical representation of time as a creative and tangible force. After 365 days the clock has turned the passed year into a two-meter long scarf. Now the past can be carried out into the future and the upcoming year is hiding in a new spool of thread, still unknitted."

Cheerio

Tracey

Catherine Roy and I, as members of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum to Open Government, Government of Canada, and as Chairs and Co-chairs of the MSF commitment on Data for Results: Disability, submitted the following to the Government of Canada commitments to the international Open Government Partnership. This would be for the next Action Plan For Canada.

Catherine and I officially met with Government of Canada representatives, beyond the MSF officials, on this important commitment, on June 28, 2021. We had requested to meet, as part of the engagement process, with officials from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and the Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization. They unfortunately did not attend the civil society consulation. We did meet with officials from Statistics Canada; the Office of the Deputy Minister of Public Service Accessibility and the Canada Revenue Agency in addition to our usual MSF Open Government Team at the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada.

The Civil Society Commitments we submitted and discussed, were developed in consultation with civil society disabled people’s organizations, experts and advocates with lived experience. It was the first time that such a group had been brought together to specifically discuss data about disabled people in Canada.

After the meeting, the civil society representatives met, and recommended an additional commitment and refined the 7 point Data For Results on Disability Commitment as posted below, that was presented to government. We also reached out to those who sent their regrets for their input. It was great to have these key experts, people with lived experience and disabled people civil society organizations at the table. This was no small feat given the context of the pandemic and the front line priorities these organizations and people have.

We then formally asked that these Refined Commitments be shared with government of Canada counterparts in an email. In that correspondence we offered to look at a draft, and or to discuss ideas. It is conventional to discuss draft commitments.

Unfortunately, the Government of Canada actors responsible for this commitment did not discuss their proposed commitments prior to the public consultation process, and as you can see here, the Government’s proposal does not resemble what civil society actors requested. The Government’s draft commitment does however resemble the 2021 Federal Budget announcement on disagregated data, and new additions that just came in this afternoon, are a list of work government was already doing, thus these do not consitutue new commitments. It is great that this work is beind done, but these do not address the request that was made. (see below Civil Society Commitments 1 & 2)

As per the process, we formally submitted our disapointment to the Government of Canada proposal in an email, and we did so today again, and we have submitted comments as part of the online consultation process which you can find here and I have posted images below. We hope that this part of the process works, and that our questions and comments will be responded to. You can submit comments to!

We also hope that we will be able to work together on addressing how disabled people are unseen and generally unacounted for in government statistics, government data and administrative data, let alone open data, and that when they are, they are often misclassified or overly surveyed and audited in programs and taxation as they are often identified as outliers. Also, that data will be collected about topics and issues of importance to disabled people, in the spirit of Nothing about us with out us!

We believe the Government operated with good intentions, and we hope to be able to work together to fulfill the requests from civil society and, that our commitments will become policy and that we can have meaningful dialogue to co-create open government policy as per the process.

Preamble

Data for Results: Data about People with Disabilities

MSF Civil Society actors identified a significant data deficit regarding the living conditions and well-being of people with disabilities in Canada. These historical and systemic inequities became more visible and problematic throughout COVID-19 pandemic response. Existing data are outdated, insufficient, difficult to find and do not address systemic issues.

People with disabilities are counted as part of the Employment Equity Act in terms of employment in the Federal Government, there is a new Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada, which has led to the creation of a Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization (CASDO), the Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD) targets people who are 15 years and over on Census day. These are to be lauded, but there remains an absence of data about the living conditions of this group of people in terms of individual residences and most especially collective dwellings which more often than not involves state support.  There is also a lack of any national understanding of how this group of people in Canada are faring and when in collective dwellings, how much freedom is afforded in terms of movement. This would be the responsibility of Statistics Canada, the CASDO, and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Currently there is no one statistical unit responsible for the collection of data, surveys and administrative data about people with disabilities. There is no national dataset nor a typology of collective residences and collective care facilities such as group homes, home care, and respite care. There are no unique classification systems, and the General Social Survey and the Census do not survey people with disabilities where they live, missing those who live in institutions and custodial housing.  We also know little of the employment, education, health, and economic status and wellbeing of this group of Canadians. This is a first step to knowing more, and to inform policies, programs and services. Internationally this group of people are underrepresented, invisible and unseen in Open Data priorities. We hope to also address this international Open Government and Open Data gap.

Multi-Stakeholder Forum Civil Society Commitment Requests on the topic of Open Data For Results – Disability:

Data for Results – Disability Civil Society Commitment 1:

• We would like the following 7 step Data For Results process on Disability commitment:

1. Disability Data Inventory – Conduct a cross government of Canada inventory to identify data, surveys, administrative data, program and service data, models, crowdsourcing data collection programs about disabled people, including their social and material lived experience. This would include methodological guides, data dictionaries, classification systems & taxonomies, standards, etc. as well as data owners, and how the data are used in decision making and reporting.
2. Analyze – Analyze the inventory and identify data gaps and issues with disability civil society actors and experts in and outside of government. This includes identifying risks related to automated decision making, validity of the data, assessment of proxies, bias and models of disability. Also, with great attention to the potential ramifications of data to the lives of disabled people i.e. disabled people are often audited more by the CRA as their lives do not follow traditional life courses.
3. Publish – The results of the inventory and later the analysis of the inventory on the Open Government Website and publish any data that can be made open in the open data portal with accompanying documentation. This can be a type of clearinghouse on disability, including laws, regulations, official reporting, etc.
4. Collect – Develop procedures to ameliorate existing datasets, and work with Civil Society actors and experts in and outside of government to produce and collect new data with responsible authorities, keeping in mind the risks discussed earlier.
5. Publish – New, current, and historical existing data on the Government of Canada Open Data portal and also, for those data that cannot be open data, these ought to be listed with details and a contacting authority.
6. Act – Data for Results is about informing public policy, programs and services to address inequities and the social and material conditions of disabled people, to assess impact and outcomes of regulation, to mitigate ableism and to improve data collection, dissemination and processes including impact and oversight, while also creating affirmative indicators related to participation in Canadian life and the workforce. Impact metrics will be required to monitor progress.
7. Report Results – Report policy, program and service improvements and outcomes.

Data for Results – Disability Civil Society Commitment 2:

Considering the importance of the availability of data designed according to and compatible with the systemic social model of disability to ensure the monitoring of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) ratified by Canada, it is recommended to include the Human Rights Commission of Canada in any discussion related to the government’s commitment to open data in the area of disability. In addition, the lead Canadian organization in monitoring the CRPD with civil society partners is the British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society (BCANDS) crpd@bcands.bc.ca “

Image of the Government of Canada Response to our Initial Request and what is currently out for consultation:

Open Government Commitment by Government of Canada

Update – Wereceived notice at 14:00 YOW time, that the following was forgottent in the Government Consulation Document

Just added list of datasets!

My submitted comments about this oversight are as follows:

“The addition of 3.7 onward, just now on a Friday afternoon before an election, is great, but these do not constitute Open Government Commitments, as these are the usual business of Government, some of the surveys should not have been cancelled in the first place, and these were things Government had already committed to. We are glad that you are going to do them. Also they have just been added on the last days of the consultation.  In addition, some of these surveys do not sample disabled people living in collective dwellings such as domiciliary institutions, the living arrangements for many disabled people, which means it will miss many resulting in a gross under count and under representatio, especially people with developmental disabilities and potentially the elderly with disabilities who live in elder care homes, and any other disabled people relegated to prisons because of inadequate mental institutions, and others with developmental disabilities in mental institutions because of a lack of other forms of care.

We of course, continue to hope that our group of civil society actors will be consulted and an advisory board will be constituted with the people and organizations who helped shape and endorse the civil society submitted commitments.

Part of the issues identified by civil society, are these types of data gaps in existing counting systems, including a clear lack of typologies and classification systems about foundational issues such as living arrangements and dwelling types. 

Finally, as is the case with Indigenous people, there ought to be systems developed by and with disabled people as the current deficit indicators are not useful, and what of data that are meaningful to disabled people?  monite.com: multibanking

Again, we are most willing to work with you.  And we hope that our call for an inventory, the analysis of the data from that inventory, and an advisory group can be set up in an official capacity so that we do this work together.  We look forward to your thoughts on this.  We have posted our observations and requests here as comments to this document and also here https://www.datalibre.ca/2021/08/13/open-data-for-results-disability/.

Also note, that the groups we worked with as part of this process, expected their contribution in terms of the development of commitments to be enough, they did not expect to have to come back to a website and also have to reiterate what they have already share with you.  Thus we did!

Again, we believe the Government has good intentions, but in the absence of dialogue with us, missed what we were proposing and why. The Open Government process involves meaningful engagement, and new commitments beyond usual government business.  I am sure we will be able to help you formulate a commitment that is new, and one that is meaningful to disabled people in Canada.”

Here’s what we know …

Earlier this month, the Megan Linton shared her research about the missing database of congregate institutions for disabled people. This data gap makes it difficult to trace COVID’s impacts on these vulnerable populations and to accurately prioritize vaccine distribution amidst the phased roll-out. Today (03/01/2021), federal and provincial COVID-19 vaccine roll outs still have yet to include disabled people. 

In the UK—where this data is disaggregated—we know disabled people make up 60% of all COVID deaths, and that disabled people with developmental disabilities are four to six times more likely to die from COVID-19. Canada needs data on where disabled people are living to prioritize them in our vaccination program.  

“…the lack of data is a major hurdle when making decisions, so a nationwide census needs to be undertaken to determine how many people with disabilities live in institutions or semi-institutions in Canada.”

Jonathan Marchand, Président, Coop ASSIST

We need your help to learn more about congregate institutions for disabled people.

On Sunday March 7th, 13:00–16:00, join the Canadian Open Data Society (CODS), GO Open Data (GOOD), and Open North together as part of the Tracing COVID-19 Data Project to “Hack the Data Gap” and make institutions for disabled adults visible. 


If you enjoy hunting for information online and know your way around a spreadsheet, we need you. Orientation and instructions will be provided (though you’ll have to provide your own coffee and donuts).

Join us this Sunday via Zoom to Hack this Data Gap… and together let’s shed light on this issue!

Please register here to participate.

In the News!

Megan Linton (Sociology) the Tracing COVID-19 Data project’s critical disabilities studies expert supported by Kit Chokly (Communications) our data intersectionality expert and designer,  have been leading the charge on making public the data invisility of people living in custodial institutions. The backgrounder is available here, and in essence we are trying to compile, with disability and open data advocates across the country, a foundational dataset so that these folks can be seen in policy and in action.

Megan, in addition to being an up-and-coming scholar, is also a person with the lived experience of a disabled person has been in the news talking about these invisibilities.  Today she was interviewed by CBC’s Alan Neal on All in a Day 

and authored the following article:  Ontario’s hidden institutions Facilities like ‘domiciliary hostels’ are an outdated model of custodial care that violates disabled people’s rights.

The research team is digging for information to compile into a database with the Canadian Open Data Society, GO Open Data, and Open North and several people in the disabled people’s community and volunteers at large.

A work in progress Disabled People’s Database — Invisible Institutions in Ottawa created by the team was also released.

We will have a public crowdsourcing activity on March 6 for International Open Data Day. Stay tuned!

Article written by: Megan Linton, with support from Kit Chokly and Tracey P. Lauriault

Key Facts:

  • There is no national nor provincial dataset / inventory of residential service homes, congregate institutions or custodial housing for disabled people in Canada.
  • The last count, conducted in 2009, of people living in Ontario domiciliary hostels was 4 700.
  • Residents in these homes cannot meet the 2 meter physical distance requirements as their shared rooms and spaces are too small
  • People who live in residential service homes share bedrooms and bathrooms, placing residents in the highest risk category of a COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Adults with intellectual disabilities are more likely to die or experience serious complications from COVID-19 as compared to the rest of the population, in England Disabled people account for 6 in 10 COVID-19 deaths (BBC, Feb. 11, 2021)

Issue: 

Residential service homes are congregate institutions that provide long-term housing to chronically unhoused, older and/or disabled adults over the age of 18. These are institutions, large and small, and based on our preliminary analysis, that serve between 10 and 150 residents. People living in these residences share bathrooms, bedrooms, common spaces and dining rooms. Residential service home standards require that there be at least 0.94 meter spacing between beds in shared bedrooms, 1.39 meters of space in common areas for each resident, and at least one accessible bathroom per institution (City of Ottawa, 2016). In these residences it is not possible to meet the COVID-19 public health recommendations of a minimum of 2 meters between individuals (Public Health Ontario, 2021). 

Under these living conditions it is difficult to control the spread of COVID-19. The recent outbreak at the Edgewood Care Centre in Ottawa is evidence of this. It is a 130 person privately operated institution, where 27% of residents contracted COVID-19 (Linton, 2021; Payne, 2021). These living conditions are unknown to most and are not accounted for as there are no concerted efforts to trace these outbreaks as there is no administration tasked with collecting these data in Canada as the responsibility for these falls under many jurisdictions. There are emerging data collection efforts in the UK and US that have identified that adults with intellectual disabilities are significantly more likely [1] to die from COVID-19 if they get the disease and the larger the size of the institution, the higher the mortality rate (Public Health England, 2020). 

Image of a single room with 2 bedrooms at Watford House in Ottawa. Image of a typical bedroom arrangement. "In shared bedrooms, space should be increased between beds to at least 2 metres apart. If this is not possible, consider different strategies to keep residents apart (e.g., place beds head to foot or foot to foot, using temporary barriers between beds)” (Ministry of Health, 2020) (Image of Bedroom in Watford House Ottawa, 2021)
Image of a typical bedroom arrangement. “In shared bedrooms, space should be increased between beds to at least 2 metres apart. If this is not possible, consider different strategies to keep residents apart (e.g., place beds head to foot or foot to foot, using temporary barriers between beds)” (Ministry of Health, 2020) (Image of Bedroom in Watford House Ottawa, 2021)
Image of a typical communal dining room (Watford House Ottawa, 2021) The image includes several small square tables with 4 wooden chairs around them.
Image of a typical communal dining room (Watford House Ottawa, 2021)

As of 2017, the wait list also known as the Service Registry for residential services for adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD), was 15 700 persons (Developmental Services Housing Task Force, 2017). As a result, adults with I/DD are dispersed across a wide-range of congregate institutions, including residential service homes (Hwang et al., 2009), long term care institutions (Ouellette-Kuntz et al., 2017), and psychiatric institutions (Dube, 2016). There has yet to be the collection of disaggregated data on the impacts of COVID-19 on adults with I/DD in Canada (Campanella et al., 2021). 

Example of a typical accessible bathroom, the image includes a sink, handles on the wallk to the shower rooms and a seat  (The Standard stipulates that only 1 accessible bathroom is required, regardless of the number of residents). (Baycrest, 50 residents in shared rooms and 1 bathroom)
Example of a typical bathroom (The Standard stipulates that only 1 accessible bathroom is required, regardless of the number of residents). (Baycrest, 50 residents in shared rooms and 1 bathroom)

The last count – done in 2009 – was 4 700 people living in domiciliary hostels in Ontario

Residential service homes were initially designed for older adults who did not require the same services of long-term care institutions. The most recent analysis was done in 2009—prior to the closure of provincially operated residential institutions for adults with I/DD. Since then, the waiting list for access to residential services for disabled adults has had significant growth (Auditor General, 2014; Auditor General, 2016). In Hwang’s 2009 study, 75% of residents are under 65, 89% have at least one physical disability, 23% have a I/DD diagnosis and 94% are disabled [2] (Hwang et al., 2009). 

Where are the data?

Presently, public health units are not reporting disaggregated data on disability-based congregate institutions, making it difficult to understand the effects of COVID-19. This statistical dearth presents a challenge as we approach an anticipated third-wave in Ontario (Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, 2021). Further, as Ontario enters phase II of vaccination distribution which identifies congregate institutions as priorities for vaccination, yet there are no comprehensive national or provincial or municipal databases of congregate institutions. These data invisibilities make it difficult to prioritize care and the rollout of the vaccine where there is a high risk of the spread of COVID-19. 

Most residential service homes are regulated by the municipalities in Ontario, and there is no administrative requirement to maintain a central database of these institutions. Further, services and support for adults with I/DD are inter-jurisdictional and inter-ministerial resulting in a significant, ongoing data gap (Lunsky et al., 2013; Dube, 2016). This gap is furthered by the exclusion of residential institutions from the Statistics Canada Census (Durbin et al., 2019, Migdal, 2018). 

Recommendations:

Public health data show the greater likelihood of COVID-19 mortality in large congregate institutions. Residential service homes should therefore be a priority in receiving the COVID-19 vaccination.  

Priority should be given to the residents living in these institutions based on the following criteria: 

  1. The size of the institution; 
  2. Residents share small bedrooms; 
  3. The ratio of residents per washroom is high
  4. The age of residents and 
  5. The presence of comorbidities

The Auditor General of Ontario and the Ontario Ombudsman have made the recommendation to collect these data on several occasions (1988; 2014; 2016), and while we wait, people’s living conditions remain unseen, uncounted, invisible and therefore unaccounted for in public health policy.

People living in these types of residence should be prioritized for vaccination as should those who assist them, we need to know where these residences are and how many people live in them. 

Efforts as part of the Tracing-COVID-19 Data project are ongoing to produce and open dataset we are calling Megan’s Database of Canadian Custodial Institutions for Disabled People. This is but a start, and we call upon governments federal, provincial/territorial and municipal to help with this endeavour.

[1]  Research from the UK identifies that adults with developmental disabilities are four to six times more likely to die from COVID-19 than other individuals (Public Health England, 2020). Research from the US found they were three times as likely to die from COVID-19 (FAIR Health, 2020).

[2] As 94% of residents receive Ontario Disability Support Program funding (Hwang et al., 2009).

About:

The pandemic has revealed that foundational datasets about specific Canadian populations are missing, including data on the number of disabled people currently living in custodial institutions and the state of their living conditions. This briefing was produced by Megan Linton as part of her ongoing research on disability and institutionalization in Canada, and the current data research is being conducted as part of the Tracing COVID-19 Data Project at Carleton University. 

Article written by: Amanda Hunter & Tracey P. Lauriault

Introduction

Since early June, the Tracing COVID-19 Data project team has been examining intersectional approaches to the collection, interpretation, and reuse of COVID-19 data. Our most recent post about Open Science innovation during the pandemic highlighted the critical role Open Science (OS) plays in the rapid response to COVID-19, ensuring that data and research outputs are more widely shared, accessible, and reusable for all. That post also chronicled the importance of the principles and standards that support OS such as FAIR principles, open-by-default, and the open data charter. We also emphasized the significance of Indigenous data sovereignty and the value of integrating CARE and OCAP principles into data management and governance. 

As a continuation; this post analyzes Canada’s ongoing commitment to adopting OS standards and principles. Canada has a government directive for implementing open science as stated in Canada’s 2018-2020 National Action Plan on Open Government, Roadmap for Open Science, Directive on Open Government, and the Model Policy on Scientific Integrity. These are commitments and guidelines for the adoption of open science standards and part of open data and open government at the federal level.  

Here we assess whether or not official provincial, territorial and federal public health reporting adheres to open science & open data standards when reporting of the COVID-19 data. We will address the following questions: 

  1.  Are COVID-19 data open in Canada?  
  2.  Under what licenses are COVID-19 data made available?
  3.  Are there active open data initiatives at all levels of government? And are they publishing COVID-19 Data? (Federal, Provincial, Territorial)

We draw conclusions from our observations of the current state of open data in Canada, particularly as it relates to COVID-19 data. We will identify areas of opportunity and make concrete recommendations to facilitate open data and open science during pandemic. It should be noted that we are citing federal mandates: though provincial and territorial governments that do not have open data and open government mandates are not obliged to adhere to Federal open data/open government directives, although we would argue that it would be largely beneficial if these levels of government considered adopting an open data framework, similar to directives aimed at the federal level, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some jurisdictions have their own frameworks and we will discuss those as well.

Methodology

To support this analysis we have developed a framework which incorporates FAIR principles, OCAP principles, CARE principles, and the open data charter. Using this framework, we will assess Canada’s reporting process to determine which standards are being used and which – if any – should be considered.

To collect data we visited Canada’s official COVID-19 reporting sites (found here) and used the walkthrough method to assess existing data dissemination practices. We located license information for each webpage/dashboard and recorded this information, as well as supplementary information including disclaimers, terms of use, and copyright information (see the observations here). Importantly, we made note of which province/territory has open data/open government portals, checking to see if the COVID-19 data were made available via these portals.  This approach informed the determination of the following:

  1. Whether or not the information were open
  2. The License under which the data are available (which determines how one is allowed to access/reuse the data)
  3. Whether or not the respective province or territory has an open data mandate
  4. Whether or not the respective province or territory has an open data portal

For the purposes of this blog post we focused on the license under which the COVID-19 data are disseminated, whether or not there is a copyright statement, and, whether or not the data are open. Future posts will assess other aspects of Canada’s official reporting sites using this same framework. 

The Framework

There are a number of key standards which inform our assessment. 

Open Science

Open Science (OS) is a movement, practice and policy toward transparent, accessible, reliable, trusted and reproducible science. This is achieved largely by sharing the processes of research and data collection, and often the data, to make research results accessible, standardized, and reusable for everyone – and of course reproducible. Here we are discussing the scientific disseminated by official public health reporting agencies.

The Federal government outlines Canada’s commitment to open science with Canada’s 2018-2020 National Action Plan on Open Government, Roadmap for Open Science, Directive on Open Government, and the Model Policy on Scientific Integrity.

Our assessment will consider how well these commitments are reflected in the COVID-19 data shared by federal and provincial public health sources. We are looking for consistent adherence to open government/open data commitments. 

Open Data Charter 

The Open Data Charter (ODC) principles were jointly established by governments, civil society, and experts around the world to develop a globally agreed-upon set of standards for publishing data. The ODC principles include: 

  1.  open by default
  2.  timely and comprehensive
  3.  accessible and usable
  4.  comparable and interoperable
  5.  for improved governance & citizen engagement
  6.  for inclusive development and innovation

Here, we are primarily looking for data to be open by default (1) and accessible and usable (3). This is in line with the commitment by the Government of Canada to the application of open by default specifications whenever possible;  namely that data should be open-by-default and free of charge.

FAIR principles

FAIR principles are a standards approach which support the application of open science by making data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. The goal of the FAIR principles is to maximize the scientific value of research outputs (Wilkinson et al., 2016). 

For the purposes of our current analysis we are focused on the reusability of the data available from Canada’s official COVID-19 reporting sites. As per the RDA standards, reusable data should “have clear usage licenses and provide accurate information on provenance”. Thus, we are looking for Canada’s official COVID-19 data to provide clear usage licenses which allow unrestricted reuse for all.  

CARE & OCAP Principles

While the FAIR principles specify guidelines for general data sharing practices, they do not address specific issues of colonial power dynamics and the Indigenous right to data governance. The CARE principles of Indigenous Data Governance do by extending the FAIR principles. The principles are: 

  • collective benefit, 
  • authority to control, 
  • responsibility, and 
  • ethics. 

Together these principles suggest that the best Indigenous data practices should be grounded in Indigenous worldviews and recognize the power of data to advance Indigenous rights and interests, and that these interests will be specific to each community but are general enough to be universal. 

Similarly, the OCAP principles are a set of standards that govern best practices for Indigenous data collection, protection, use, and sharing. Developed by the First Nations Information Governance Centre, the OCAP principles assert the right of Indigenous people to exercise Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession of their own data. Taken together, these principles help maximize benefit to the community and minimize harm.

Though the federal government does not mandate adherence to CARE or OCAP principles, Canada has some commitment to fostering Indigenous data governance. Therefore we are hoping that federal and provincial institutions that produce and share data encourage Indigenous self-governance and collaboration in data collection and handling strategies. 

Findings

Each of the existing open data sites were searched on Oct. 9 to assess if they disseminate COVID-19 data. Detailed results, along with a list of official COVID-19 provincial, territorial, and federal websites (including links to their data and information copyright, terms of use and disclaimers) can be found in our Official COVID-19 websites post. Links to the respective open government and open data initiatives – including policies, directives, and open data licences – can also be found there.

We made four main observations, which will be interpreted in the next section:

  1. All provincial and territorial, as well as the federal governments publicly publish up to date COVID-19 data.
  2. None of the official public provincial, territorial, or federal governments’ health sites publish COVID-19 data under an open data licence. Each claims copyright with the exception of Nunavut, which has no statements. None are open by default.
  3. ALL BUT Saskatchewan, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories HAVE open government and open data initiatives.  Manitoba has an open government initiative but not with an open data licence.
  4. ONLY British Columbia and Ontario, as well as the Federal Government include COVID-19 data in their open Data Portals / Catalogues. Quebec republishes 4 COVID-19 related datasets submitted by the cities of Montreal and Sherbrooke, Ontario has 7 open COVID-19 datasets (an additional 22 supporting datasets in the COVID-19 group on the catalogue. We have not counted those in the BC portal.

Discussion

The following discusses our findings by returning to the research questions stated above:

Are COVID-19 data open in Canada?

In Canada, a work is protected by copyright when it is created and all data produced by the Federal Government falls under crown copyright; this is also the case for provincial and territorial governments (Government of Canada, 2020). Data created by these governments are considered to be open data if they are published with an open data or open government license. Under an open license the user is free “to copy, modify, publish, translate, adapt, distribute or otherwise use the Information in any medium, mode or format for any lawful purpose” (Government of Canada, 2020). Data disseminated without an open licence are governed by Crown Copyright or other types of copyright as listed here, which has specific conditions and limitations under which the information can be used, modified, published, or distributed. 

With this in mind, it appears that none of the official public provincial and territorial, as well as the federal governments health sites publish COVID-19 data under an open data licence, even though the data are often accessible, public, machine readable and can be downloaded. 

All of the provinces and territories – with the exception of Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, and Nunavut – have open data portals although Manitoba has an open government portal, there is no open data license. 

Where there are open data portals, only British Columbia, Ontario, and the Federal Government  re-publish and disseminate the COVID-19 data via these portals (see images below). Quebec republishes 4 COVID-19 related datasets submitted by the cities of Montreal and Sherbrooke, Ontario has 7 open COVID-19 datasets (an additional 22 supporting datasets in the COVID-19 group on the catalogue. We have not counted those in the BC portal.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) dashboard and website with COVID-19 data are not published under an open licence and would therefore fall under the Copyright Act – which is not open. 

A screenshot of the British Columbia open data portal which republishes COVID-19 data. (Government of British Columbia, Data Catalogue). Captured October 12th, 2020.

A screenshot of the Ontario open data catalogue which republishes COVID-19 data. (Government of Ontario, Data Catalogue). Captured October 12th, 2020.

Under what licenses are the data made available?

All of the reporting sites analyzed above (with two possible exceptions, stated below) are subject to Crown Copyright, which means that a user must obtain permission from the copyright holder (the Crown) to adapt, revise, reproduce, or translate the data made available on its website. 

Therefore users should assume that COVID-19 data published by all provinces and territories are protected by Copyright. All provinces and territories, with the exception of Nunavut and Saskatchewan, explicitly state their Crown Copyright protection.

Are there active open data initiatives at all levels of government? (Federal, Provincial, Territorial)

All provinces and territories – with the exception of Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut – have open data and/or open government initiatives. Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, PEI, and Quebec have open data portals. As mentioned previously, Manitoba has an open government and open data portal, but no open data license. 

Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, PEI and Quebec, governments have active open data policies. All provincial and territorial governments (with the exception of Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nunavut) make their open data available under an open government license

At the federal level, the Government of Canada has an Open Data portal and adheres to an open government license andsome COVID-19 data are re-disseminated. 

In conclusion, there are various active open data initiatives across Canada, however, they are in different stages of development across provinces and territories. 

Final Remarks & Recommendations 

Final Remarks

Open science, open government, and open data are initiatives increasingly adopted by the Government of Canada, but not necessarily evenly across all departments and agencies. For this reason we decided to look at the COVID-19 reporting agencies at provincial, territorial, and federal levels to determine where initiatives of openness are being adopted and where there could be improvement during the pandemic. We found that in most cases the licensing information is easy to locate, though not reflective of open data standards and licensing. COVID-19 data publicly disseminated by the official reporting agencies discussed here are not open by default or considered adequately reusable according to FAIR principles (and “reusable” standards). COVID-19 data dissemination in Canada, at the time of analysis, is incongruous with Canada’s Open Science directives. 

We did not address OCAP or CARE principles in this analysis because the data we analyzed do not include categorizations of Aboriginal identity, race or ethnicity, so none of the public health reporting sites display data explicitly about Indigenous peoples. This precludes our ability to assess the collection and handling of data about Indigenous or created by Indigenous peoples, or to analyze if CARE and OCAP principles were followed. That said, there are likely other sources of Indigenous data that were not assessed here.

Recommendations

Based on these findings we have developed four primary recommendations:

  1. Provincial and territorial public health reporting agencies can adopt open science initiatives in their respective jurisdictions. This can be done by adopting and/or modifying the open government and open science standards which are applicable to the federal government.
  1. Many of the provinces and territories publish their data and information on their official websites under Crown Copyright, including COVID-19 data even when several of these institutions also have Open Data portals and/or programs. The COVID-19 data should also be re-disseminated via provincial/federal/territorial government’s open data portals to maximize the benefit of the data for scientific innovation. 
  1. More broadly, COVID-19 data (at every level of government) should be open by default and made reusable under open data licensing. This information should be clearly indicated so that it is clear who can use the data and under what conditions. Doing so may also facilitate greater accessibility, transparency, and reuse of the data. 
  1. Finally, there are some interoperability issues which makes it difficult for the user to ascertain whether or not the data are reusable. Each public health organization seems to have different terms of use associated with their data, and tracking down the information across websites is difficult. Further action to ensure interoperability among partners and platforms would help support the adoption of open science standards at all levels of government. This is something we will look at in a future post when we assess the interoperability of Canada’s official COVID-19 reporting sites and data. 

Observations:

The information on this page was collected and verified on October 9, 2020.  The information here was collected for research purposes and is related to the following blog post co-authored by Amanda Hunter and Tracey P. Lauriault.

  1. All provincial and territorial, as well as the federal governments are publicly publishing up to date COVID-19 data.
  2. None of official public provincial and territorial, as well as the federal governments health sites publish COVID-19 data under an open data licence. Each claims copyright with the exception of Nunavut that has no statements.
  3. ONLY Saskatchewan, Manitoba*, Nunavut and the North West Territories DO NOT HAVE open government and open data initiatives.  Manitoba has an open government initiative but not with an open data licence.
  4. ONLY British Columbia and Ontario, as well as the Federal Government include COVID-19 data in their open Data Portals / Catalogues. Quebec republishes 4 COVID-19 related datasets submitted by the cities of Montreal and Sherbrooke.

The following includes a list of official COVID-19 provincial and territorial, and federal websites including links to their data and information copyright, terms of use and disclaimers. Also, included are links to open government and open data initiatives, including policies, directives, and open data licences. Finally, each of the existing open data sites were searched on Oct. 9 to assess if they disseminate COVID-19 data.

British Columbia

BC Centre for Disease Control BC COVID-19 Data http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/data

© Province of British Columbia

Terms of Use http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Info-Site/Documents/BC_COVID-19_Disclaimer_Data_Notes.pdf

Disclaimer / Information http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Info-Site/Documents/BC_COVID-19_Disclaimer_Data_Notes.pdf

Open Information and Open Data Policy https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/services-policies-for-government/information-management-technology/information-privacy/resources/policies-guidelines/open-information-open-data-policy.pdf

“While the Open Information and Data Policy applies to all government information and Data, legal, policy, and contractual obligations, limit the application of this Policy in some cases. In addition, this Policy sets out specific criteria that must be met before government information is designated for Proactive Disclosure or Routine Release, or before Data can be considered Open Data.”

Open Data https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/data/open-data

Open Data Licence https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/data/open-data/open-government-licence-bc

YES – COVID-19 Data in the Open Data Portal

Yukon

COVID-19 information https://yukon.ca/en/covid-19-information

© Copyright 2020 Government of Yukon

Copyright https://yukon.ca/en/copyright

Disclaimer https://yukon.ca/en/disclaimer

Mandate Letter Commitment to Open Data https://yukon.ca/sites/yukon.ca/files/eco/eco-mandate-richard-mostyn_en.pdf

Open Data https://open.yukon.ca/data/

Open Government Licence https://open.yukon.ca/data/open-government-licence-yukon

NO – COVID-19 Data in the Open Data Portal

Alberta

COVID-19 info for Albertans https://www.alberta.ca/covid-19-alberta-data.aspx

© 2020 Government of Alberta

Terms of Use https://www.alberta.ca/disclaimer.aspx#toc-0

Disclaimer and Copyright https://www.alberta.ca/disclaimer.aspx#toc-0

Government of Alberta Open Information and Open Data Policy https://open.alberta.ca/policy

“provides a framework to establish the operational responsibilities, organization, processes, tools and other resources required for a single approach to the open data and open information programs. The policy also provides foundational assurance and guidance to staff from across the Government of Alberta with respect to identifying, preparing, and publishing data and information through the open data and open information portals on a routine basis going forward.”

Open Government Alberta https://www.alberta.ca/open-government-program.aspx

Open Data https://open.alberta.ca/opendata

Open Government Licence https://open.alberta.ca/licence

NO – COVID-19 Data in the Open Data Portal

Northwest Territories

GNWT’s Response to COVID-19 https://www.gov.nt.ca/covid-19/

Copyright https://www.gov.nt.ca/en/terms#2-copyright-and-trademarks

Disclaimer https://www.gov.nt.ca/en/terms

Open Government Policy https://www.eia.gov.nt.ca/sites/eia/files/2018-01-08_open_government_policy_-_signed.pdf

There is a Discovery Portal with environmental geospatial data, but not released under an open data licence; the Copyright Act applies.

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan Health and Wellness Dashboard https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness

© 2019, Government of Saskatchewan.

Terms of Use (disclaimer) https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/terms

Copyright https://www.saskatchewan.ca/copyright

N/A – No open government or open data initiative.

There is an open geospatial data portal: https://geohub.saskatchewan.ca/ with a Standard Unrestricted Use Data Licence: https://gisappl.saskatchewan.ca/Html5Ext/Resources/GOS_Standard_Unrestricted_Use_Data_Licence_v2.0.pdf

Manitoba

Manitoba COVID-19 Updates https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/updates/index.html

Copyright © 2017, Province of Manitoba

Disclaimer https://www.gov.mb.ca/legal/disclaimer.html

Copyright https://www.gov.mb.ca/legal/copyright.html    

Open Government Portal https://www.gov.mb.ca/openmb/index.html

“provides Manitobans with a place to engage with government to share your ideas, stories and knowledge. It’s also an easy way to find government reports and data.”

No Open Data Licence

NO – COVID-19 Data in OpenMB

Nunavut

Department of Health COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) https://www.gov.nu.ca/health/information/covid-19-novel-coronavirus

No copyright or disclaimer notifications

N/A – No Open Data or Open Government Initiative.

Ontario

COVID-19 case data: All Ontario https://covid-19.ontario.ca/data

© Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2012-2020

Terms of Use https://www.ontario.ca/page/terms-use

Copyright https://www.ontario.ca/page/copyright-information-c-queens-printer-ontario

Open Government https://www.ontario.ca/page/open-government

“We’re creating a more open and transparent government by sharing our data and information, and consulting with the people of Ontario. Learn more about open government and the digital transformation taking place within the Ontario Digital Service.”

Open Data Directive https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontarios-open-data-directive

Adopting the International Open Data Charter https://www.ontario.ca/page/adopting-international-open-data-charter

Open Data Catalogue https://data.ontario.ca/

Open Government Licence https://www.ontario.ca/page/open-government-licence-ontario

YES – COVID data in the Open Data Catalogue

Québec

Institut national de santé publique du Québec Données COVID-19 https://www.inspq.qc.ca/covid-19/donnees

© Gouvernement du Québec, 2020

Dispositions de protections des droits de propriété intellectuelle (Copyright/Droits d’auteur) et Intégrité de l’information (Disclaimer)

http://www.droitauteur.gouv.qc.ca/copyright.php

Gouvernement ouvert https://www.quebec.ca/gouv/politiques-orientations/vitrine-numeriqc/gouvernement-ouvert/

Plan d’action pour l’accessibilité et le partage des données ouvertes des ministères et des organismes publics https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/gouvernement/SCT/vitrine_numeriQc/gouvernement_ouvert/plan_action_gouvernement_ouvert.pdf?1595962618

« constitue la démarche structurée que nous entreprendrons, parce que nous avons la ferme conviction que les affaires de l’État sont également celles de la population. Ce plan d’action représente également l’occasion d’engager une collaboration avec toute la société afin de valoriser la transparence et l’ouverture ».

Données ouvertes https://www.donneesquebec.ca/fr/

License Creative Commons https://www.donneesquebec.ca/fr/licence/#cc-by

NO – Provincial COVID-19 Data in the Open Data Portal only 4 related data republished from the Cities of Montreal and Sherbrooke

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador COVID-19 Pandemic Update Data Hub https://covid-19-newfoundland-and-labrador-gnl.hub.arcgis.com/

Copyright, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, all rights reserved

Disclaimer/Copyright/Privacy Statement https://www.gov.nl.ca/disclaimer/

Open Government Framework https://open.gov.nl.ca/pdf/OpenGovernmentInitiativeFramework.pdf

Open Government https://open.gov.nl.ca/

“is guided by the principles of transparency, accountability, participation and collaboration. Open governments recognize that true democracy involves working with citizens and stakeholders, not just for them. Open governments acknowledge and benefit from the input, knowledge and expertise that citizens can contribute to the operations and decision-making of government.”

Open Data https://opendata.gov.nl.ca/

Open Data Licence https://opendata.gov.nl.ca/public/opendata/page/?page-id=licence

NO – COVID-19 Data in the Open Data Portal

Newfoundland and Labrador do publish some COVID-19 open datasets on their open geospatial portal with an open data licence.

New Brunswick

New Brunswick COVID-19 Dashboard https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/8eeb9a2052d641c996dba5de8f25a8aa

All content © Government of New Brunswick. All rights reserved.

Copyright and Disclaimer https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/jag/attorney-general/content/acts_regulations/content/disclaimer_and_copyright.html

Disclaimer https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/corporate/promo/covid-19/about_dashboard.html#disclaimer

Open Data Policy???

Digital Strategy https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/eco-bce/Promo/digitalnb/digital_new_brunswick.pdf

Open Data New Brunswick https://gnb.socrata.com/

Open Government Licence http://www.snb.ca/e/2000/data-E.html

NO – COVID-19 Data in the Open Data Portal

Prince Edward Island

PEI COVID-19 Case Data https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/health-and-wellness/pei-covid-19-case-data

© 2020 Government of Prince Edward Island

Website Disclaimer and Copyright Policy https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/executive-council-office/website-disclaimer-and-copyright-policy

Open Data Principles https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/finance/open-data-principles

Open Data https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/service/open-data

Open Government Licence https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/finance/open-government-licence-prince-edward-island

NO – COVID-19 Data in the Open Data Portal

Nova Scotia

Coronavirus (COVID-19): case data https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/data/

Crown copyright © Government of Nova Scotia

Copyright https://beta.novascotia.ca/copyright

Terms https://beta.novascotia.ca/terms

Open Data https://data.novascotia.ca/

Open Government Licence https://novascotia.ca/opendata/licence.asp

NO – COVID-19 Data in the Open Data Portal

Health Canada

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Outbreak update https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html

Information posted by the Government of Canada is subject to the Copyright Act https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/index.html

Also a link to https://open.canada.ca/en (open.canada.ca/coronavirus)

Government of Canada Open Government https://open.canada.ca/en

“Open Government is about making government more accessible to everyone. Participate in conversations, find data and digital records, and learn about open government.”

Policy on Service and Digital: https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=32603 (4.3.2.8 and 4.3.2.8 on Open Information and Open Data)

Directive on Open Government https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=28108

Open Data https://open.canada.ca/en/open-data

Open Government Licence https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada

YES – COVID-19 Data in the Open Data Portal

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Given to the COMS 4407 class at Carleton University on September 22, 2020

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