OTTAWA - Liberals are vowing to create an open government data portal that would give Canadians unprecedented access to federally collected information.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says the initiative would "end the era of secrecy and control" and give Canadians the information to which they're entitled.
The United States, Britain and Australia are already using digital technology to open up their governments.
But Ignatieff says Canada has been held back by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whom he accuses of running "the most secretive government" in Canadian history.
However, the government has actually been discussing ways to allow citizens faster access to the reams of government data currently locked away behind a firewall.
Corinne Charette, the government's chief information officer, aims to have a plan in place in six to 12 months, according to a presentation she delivered in July, which The Canadian Press obtained under the Access to Information Act.
Ignatieff's plan has many elements also in Charette's draft plan.
Among other things, he says a Liberal government would make as much government data as possible available free of charge through one online data portal, starting with Statistics Canada and including all information collected through the long-form census.
The Liberals would create a second website to post all Access-to-Information requests, responses and response times; and a third to provide a searchable database on government grants, contributions and contracts.
Meanwhile, Treasury Board President Stockwell Day says several government websites are already posting details about access to information requests and their response times online.
"I can confirm that we have been looking at this initiative for some time," he said in a statement emailed to The Canadian Press Thursday night.
"Other jurisdictions have rolled-out some really exciting and interesting initiatives, and we're looking at how some of those ideas can be best implemented here in Canada."
