Transparency: A Congressman's Perspective

Day 528, 01:41 • Published in Canada Canada • by dabman

As a member of Congress, I can really appreciate the viewpoint that journalists have expressed regarding Federal and Congressional transparency. Citizens want to know what their elected representatives are doing, and as citizens of eCanada, they have a right to know this information!

With regards to economic and social issues, such as the changing of taxes on items, the discussion in congress should be readily transparent to the people of Canada. This is beneficial to eCanadians AND congressmen, since backlash from citizens tells me that I may have not made the best decision (though there will always be strong, vocal minorities opposing changes to taxes, it is not always readily apparent that the opposition IS of a minority opinion).

There are however some issues that are better left unknown to all citizens, for the risk that state secrets are released to enemies of eCanada is a serious problem. These are issues that affect national security. A properly-running federal government provides congressman this information so that citizens are at least being indirectly represented about how to handle such important decisions of eCanada.

For this reason, the congressional board must be made private to protect the high-level discussions of eCanada from being readily known by powerful enemies. HOWEVER, Congress needs to pass some form of media organization that will disseminate knowledge about current discussions and changes to taxes BEFORE they are approved/rejected! This media needs to be accessible to all citizens, even those uninformed about off-site websites.

I would like to remind everyone that this Canadian call to increase transparency of government is being taken up by the Canadian Social Democrats and other opposition parties. It is no surprise that Cleomynestra is working in unison to build a Cabinet consisting of members from several parties who share the common desire for creating some additional transparency in the federal government. Of course, there is a lot of common sense about national secrets that shouldn't be transparent to citizens (like diplomacy, upcoming wars, etc.), but what common sense have we seen in the current administration?

I think Bruck has run a good two terms, but voices in the CEP have clearly shown their inclination of being overtly UNtransparent, to the point in which it hurts citizens more than it helps them. The time to change the politics of yesterday is now!

dabman
Congressman, BC (CSD)