It’s seems one of my dreams has come true!

Today, I was featured in a CBC story on Open Data in New Brunswick –  airing on CBC radio, web, and TV:

Read onward for the Web version (with video):

Citizens ask for access to public data

The New Brunswick government and its universities are coming under pressure from citizens to make more raw data available to the public.

Many governments in Canada and around the world have embraced the so-called open data agenda and have freed up raw data to citizens so they can arrange public information in useful ways and collaborate with others to better understand the numbers.

Now, New Brunswick citizens and companies are arguing the government and universities should stop holding back similar information.

Shawn Peterson built the website — propertize.ca — because he wanted to compare his property tax assessment with his neighbours.

It’s now online and contains easy to find data for the entire province.

“I’d like to take it forward and be able to expand it into other provinces,” he said.

He’s taken public information and made it easy to use. But Peterson has also taken something for nothing and turned a profit.

Those pushing for more access to data have other ideas of how information can be used.

City buses could be tracked through smartphones, potholes could be reported and a city could notify people when they were fixed and snowplows could be monitored so people don’t have to shovel twice.

Patrick Lacroix, the managing director for the Fredericton-based company T4G, said there are many ways that the open data agenda could actually make life easier for citizens and allow communities to become more democratic.

“We have technology today that enables for much easier citizen engagement, and citizen engagement in a much smarter way,” he said.

Peterson said the potential applications and business models are only limited by the amount of information governments are willing to make public.

Open data sites

While the New Brunswick government is being pressured to start freeing up data for its citizens, the federal government is already moving in that direction.

The federal government announced last month that it is easing restrictions on the use of the taxpayer-funded data it makes available to the public.

The federal government’s open data portal collates 260,000 data sets that span everything from immigration statistics to mapping co-ordinates.

When Treasury Board President Tony Clement made the announcement, he said he had not heard yet of anyone doing anything creative with the federal government data made available to date. But he said the federal government was “liberalizing” the approach to opening up data.

He said the new rules would “make it easier for innovation to occur.”

Open data sites are not simply the domain of the federal government. The British Columbia government also has an open data site.

That page lists recent health data, information about visitor attendance at provincial parks and salary information for civil servants who earn more than $75,000.

What do you think about Open Data? Let me know!

The Progressive Conservatives sent Shawn Graham’s Liberal’s packing last night. It was a historic evening as it marked the first one-term government in New Brunswick history!

The Liberal campaign message was “the future matters”; but, for New Brunswicker’s – so does the past!

Building on an early lead as votes started coming in, the Progressive Conservatives finished with 42 seats to the Liberal’s 13.  The popular vote percentage was nearly 49%!

To make things even better, the Progressive Conservatives swept the Saint John region beating out many former cabinet ministers:

Voters in southwestern New Brunswick have beaten the Liberals black and Tory blue.

The Progressive Conservatives won a clear-cut victory on Monday, taking 11 of the region’s 12 seats, after carrying only five in the previous election. The Grits, meanwhile, were reduced to only one seat, after winning seven in 2006.

The Liberals were seemingly weighed down by too many issues unpopular with Saint John electors. The first measure that drew a collective boo was the Graham government’s flirtation with turning the University of New Brunswick Saint John into a polytechnical institute, which even the popular Doherty couldn’t sell as the minister responsible for higher education.

Then there was the end of early French immersion, which was offered at École Millidgeville School, where many of Saint John’s middle class and elite send their children for a bilingual education.

Perhaps most unpopular of all was the energy deal that would have sold much of NB Power to Hydro-Québec, a tough sell in an area that includes the Point Lepreau and Coleson Cove generating stations. The large employer has many high-paying jobs in the region, and Saint Johners were understandably nervous about what would happen to the bread and butter on many tables if the deal went through, no matter how many dollars they might save on future electricity bills.

My riding, Saint John-Fundy, was no exception.  Our PC candidate, Glen Savoie received an amazing response at the door; but, his opponent, Gary Keating did not:

Saint John-Fundy was up for grabs, with the departure of Liberal Stuart Jamieson, who briefly was shut out of his caucus for voting against the controversial NB Power-Hydro Québec deal.

Liberal Gary Keating lost the riding to Tory Glen Savoie. Keating said he didn’t have a good vibe going door-to-door during the campaign.

“You had an uneasy feeling that they weren’t voting Liberal…but they just wouldn’t tell you that,” Keating said. “They weren’t interested in talking about the Liberals and what they would do.”

Finally, below is a message from our new soon-to-be Premier, David Alward:

First of all, I want to thank you for choosing the Progressive Conservative Party as your next government, and on a more personal note, a special thanks to the people in my riding of Woodstock for returning me as their MLA.

I am humbled at finding myself the Premier-elect. I know the work ahead of our government is daunting, but I am confident we are up to the job, especially with the strong team of Tories that New Brunswickers have elected.

As I expect all New Brunswickers are only too aware, we have some serious fiscal challenges that will have to be faced. During the campaign I promised to get our financial house in order, and this will be a top priority. But it will be tackled responsibility, mindful of the necessary balance between reducing the deficit and maintaining key services. We will waste no time turning our attention to this.

Elections are emotional roller coasters for the candidates and their teams. While I am encouraged at the fine group of quality people that have been elected on our side, I want to offer my congratulations to all winners regardless of political stripe. I want to as well, thank those who ran hard but came up short. I especially feel bad for the Tory candidates who didn’t make it because I know you all gave it your all, and would have made excellent MLAs for your ridings, but that’s the democratic process in action, and part of what makes this country great.

I want to thank Premier Graham for his service to New Brunswick over the past four years. While we differ on style, approach and on many decisions, I have never doubted his commitment to the province, and he deserves the gratitude of all New Brunswickers for that. I want to personally wish him well.

In closing, I want to again say a very sincere thank you. I and my newly elected team will take the evening to relax and catch our collective breaths and for the first time in what seems forever. But then in the morning, the work begins. I’m looking forward to it.

Sincerely,

David

Below is a video from David Alward and the Progressive Conservative party:

On September 27th, vote to elect a Progressive Conservative government!

Below is a great video from the Progressive Conservative party:

The video comes with a note from David Alward:

We are in the midst of one of the most important elections our province has seen in a generation. In the coming days, New Brunswickers are going to be asked to answer a simple question — Does Shawn Graham merit another four years in office?

Throughout every region of our province, people are telling me that the time has come to put New Brunswick First…For a Change. The Progressive Conservative Party is ready to govern and I have a comprehensive plan focused on job creation and economic growth, two areas where we are lagging behind the rest of the country. It is a plan focused on bringing back responsible management of our public finances. It is a plan focused on putting our children and families first, with better healthcare and education.

This plan has been built through comprehensive consultation with New Brunswickers because I believe that government must work with the people it is elected to represent.
I am proud to be leading a Party that has fielded a solid team of candidates and experienced MLAs who are ready to work with you, and for you, to build a stronger more prosperous New Brunswick.

If you believe, as I do, that it is time to put New Brunswick First… For a Change, then I urge you to vote for your local Progressive Conservative candidate. Don’t hope for change, vote for change.

Sincerely,

David Alward

Video courtesy of the NB Liberals Exposed website:

Read more about the lies being told by Liberal candidates here!

Today’s Telegraph-Journal is reporting some big gains for the Progressive Conservatives.  They now have a 13 point lead over the Liberals:

The PCs sits at 50%, Liberals at 37%, NDP at 9%, Green at 4%, and PANB at 0%.  Undecided is down to 21%.

As for the leaders, David Alward has been gaining as well and is now leading Shawn Graham by 6 points:

Alward sits at 31%, Graham at 25%, Dugay at 7%, MacDougall at 2%, Austin at 0%,  and None at 10%. Undecided is down to 25%.

Curious what this all means?

Check out some of the following prediction websites (once they are updated to reflect today’s numbers) to see what these numbers could mean on September 27th:

• ThreeHundredEight.com
• http://nbpolitico.blogspot.com

This column previously appeared in the Telegraph-Journal on September 14th, 2010.

The article was written by FUSION Saint John’s Claire Ryan:

Campaign season is in full swing in New Brunswick. There are interesting points of discussion and debate surrounding this election, not the least of which being voter turnout.

In the past two provincial elections, approximately 70 per cent of eligible voters took part. Curious about how people are feeling about voting this year, I conducted some quick research last week, and polled ten friends on the issue. Some are born and bred New Brunswickers, others are working or studying abroad, and a few others found themselves here to pursue school or work. What they all shared in common is that they’re eligible to vote on Sept. 27. My survey asked two questions: “Will you be voting in the upcoming provincial election?” and “Why or why not?”

The good news is that everyone who responded plans to vote; unfortunately, there was a common theme among their reasons for doing so. Some of the comments were as follows:

* I feel it is important for people in our generation to get more involved and to stop complaining.

* If I don’t, then I have no right to complain about whatever political decision has just wronged me. Sadly, I don’t care who wins, I just don’t want the voting (or non-voting population for that matter) to continue to lose.

* So I can commend or criticize about the decisions and actions of my local MLA and the premier with the knowledge that I participated in the election.

While it was not exactly inspirational reading, I found promise in the fact that people recognize the importance of casting their ballot. The consequence of choosing not to vote is that you give up your right to have an opinion on the actions of our government officials and the decisions they make. My hope is that this understanding will ultimately get more New Brunswickers to participate in the election process this time around.

As is the case with most things, the decision to take the time to mark an educated “X” has to come from within, even if the motivation stems from dissatisfaction. Apathy is as big a threat to our future as anything that may happen in the legislature. To vote is to make a contribution, however small, to the province’s future; conversely, apathy is the same as saying you just don’t care.

Engaging in an election does not require you to be glued to the news or be on top of every opinion poll. Technology, the Internet in particular, is making it easier for candidates to reach out to voters, and vice versa – you are only one Google search away from a wealth of election information. Most of the candidates have Facebook profiles and the major parties have their own YouTube channels, so information on where a party or candidate stands on a particular issue is not hard to find. I’ve kept up with this election via Twitter. It’s 2010 – there is no reason why we can’t all cast educated votes.

Claire Ryan is on the FUSION Saint John board. Reach her at cryan@mtlpr.ca.

Yesterday in Riverview, David Alward released the Progressive Conservative platform:

At the PC’s campaign launch today, the Leader, David Alward, said he commits to delivering on ten concrete plans between election day and the end of the 2010 calendar year.

Alward says he and the PC team are ready to govern the province, starting on day one of a PC mandate and highlighted some of the challenges the new government will need to address, head-on.

“Change takes commitment, change takes a plan, and the Progressive Conservative Party is ready to govern on Day 1,” began Alward.

He highlighted a number of plans his team would immediately begin to take action on. These include:

• providing power rate stability for all residents and businesses for a three-year period by freezing power rates,
• reducing the small business tax rate by 50 per cent, therefore making business success and growth easier,
• working toward ensuring that every New Brunswicker has a family doctor, thereby ensuring quality primary care for all New Brunswickers,
• making strategic investments that will strengthen the capacity of our school system, thereby providing a means to meet the challenge of providing a quality education for every student,
• putting in place a debt reduction plan and taking initial actions, like reducing government waste and the size of the provincial cabinet, and managing responsibly, so that we do not put an unfair burden on future generations.

Alward said the question New Brunswickers need to ask themselves as they cast their ballot is this: given the long list of poor fiscal decisions, reckless spending, and repeatedly making decisions that have left New Brunswickers out of the picture, does Shawn Graham deserve another four years in office?

He firmly believes New Brunswickers will answer that question with a resounding “no” and vote for the kind of government that will put New Brunswick first, for a change – a Progressive Conservative government.

“The Progressive Conservative plan is sound; the Progressive Conservative plan is comprehensive; but, best of all, the Progressive Conservative plan is achievable,” he concluded.

Download the platform here!

Today’s Telegraph-Journal is reporting some big gains for the Progressive Conservatives.  They now have an 11 point lead over the Liberals:

The PCs sits at 49%, Liberals at 38%, NDP at 9%, Green at 4%, and PANB at 0%.  Undecided is 24%.

While the PCs keep gaining support, Liberals are also losing ground – making for the large difference that we are now seeing.

As for the leaders, David Alward has been gaining as well and is now leading Shawn Graham by 5 points:

Alward sits at 28%, Graham at 23%, Dugay at 8%, MacDougall at 3%, Austin at 1%,  and None at 9%. Undecided is 28%.

Curious what this all means?

Check out some of the following prediction websites to see what these numbers could mean on September 27th:

• ThreeHundredEight.com
• http://nbpolitico.blogspot.com

Shawn Graham’s Liberals were in full-attack mode yesterday after Pam Lynch, a PC Candidate, changed the address listed on her website.

It was changed from her home address, to a PO mail box, then to her campaign office – all within a relatively quick time-frame.

Most people wouldn’t think much of it; but, there are plenty of Liberals looking for any reason to criticize the other parties and their candidates, after-all, the future matters, right?

As she does not live in the riding – she must be trying to hide that from us (sarcasm)!  It’s not like she was just updating the address to be the campaign office like everyone else (from both parties), right?

Luckly, Charles Leblanc had a great post yesterday full of good details on this subject, check it out here!  I’ve pulled some of those details out into the rest of this article.

Let’s ask Kelly Lamrock what he thinks about the need to live in your riding (5:40 into this video):

“But I think, and think T.J. would agree with me on this, representing a community isn’t just about dropping by, it’s about being there”

Unfortunately, for Kelly, T.J. Burke doesn’t live in his riding.  Neither does Greg Byrne and possibly others; however, the same partisan Liberals who are quick to attack Pam on this issue fail to mention that the same thing is occurring within their own party.

Speaking of hiding addresses, I’ve asked several times now for the number of Liberal candidates who live outside their riding; but, I never did get a response (they must be hiding something too - sarcasm):

I personally don’t have an issue with not living in the riding – it’s up to the voters to decide if it matters to them.

I do; however, have an issue with criticizing others, while your party does the exact same thing!

Just take a look at some of the attacks from yesterday, and try to picturing the same attack applying to T.J. Burke, Greg Byrne, along with any other Liberal candidates who don’t live in their riding:

And it’s not just the Liberal and PC parties, the NDP’s leader doesn’t live in his riding either!

Funny how the Liberal’s doesn’t make a big deal out of that…

Pot, kettle, black.