A new website that brings together all of government's public engagement opportunities in a single location and encourages British Columbians to become more involved in their communities was announced today by Margaret MacDiarmid, Minister of Labour, Citizens' Services and Open Government.

GovTogetherBC is a user-friendly site that was developed as part of the B.C. government's ongoing commitment to make government more open and transparent.

By making government's current public consultations and dialogues searchable by keyword, topic, location and type of engagement tools, users will be able to quickly find what they're looking for. Other key features include a map that shows the location of engagements throughout the province and options to receive updates on new projects by email subscription or RSS feeds. Content on the GovTogetherBC site will also be available on www.data.gov.bc.ca as open data.

GovTogetherBC also features results from past engagement projects. Using the search function, people can find out how previous consultations were performed, how many submissions we received, and link to the full results.

For those who are interested in getting more involved in their community, GovTogetherBC makes it easier to find volunteer and leadership opportunities. Users can filter the opportunities based on the areas they're interested in, for example mentoring, safety and the environment.

As it evolves, GovTogetherBC will also make it easy for people to give their feedback in a number of different ways, such as through surveys.

Quotes:

Premier Christy Clark -

"One of our richest resources is our citizens - their ideas, their knowledge, and their passion to do the best for their families and their communities. GovTogetherBC enables citizens to get involved and contribute to making our province even better. British Columbians have the know-how and the ideas to solve problems and spur our economy, and we're listening."

Minister of Labour, Citizens' Services and Open Government Margaret MacDiarmid -

"All British Columbians can benefit from GovTogetherBC, whether they're contributing ideas, learning about current projects or finding volunteer opportunities. When we engage with the public, we enhance our government's effectiveness and improve the quality of our decisions."

International open government expert and former deputy chief technology officer to the White House Beth Simone Noveck -

"We address the challenges we face when we work together. By cataloguing a diverse range of ways for non-professionals to act, whether as park warden or policy-maker, GovTogetherBC will make it possible for governments and citizens to collaborate and innovate to get things done. Every government should follow this lead."

President of the B.C. chapter of the International Association for Public Participation Catherine Rockandel -

"This is a valuable tool to support public participation and the engagement of British Columbians in government processes that affect their interests. It closes the loop for many citizens who wonder what happened after they provided their input. The search function is particularly valuable in that it will allow the public to research past consultations, download reports, and understand how their input influenced the process and/or the decision."

Learn More:

Listen, get informed, get involved, and speak up at: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/govtogetherbc

See how to use the site at: http://youtu.be/b_gD5iP8oSI

Watch Premier Christy Clark talk about GovTogetherBC at the 2012 Premier's Awards: http://youtu.be/ScquYaIBSdQ

A backgrounder follows.

Contact:

Jason Macnaughton
Communications Manager
Ministry of Labour, Citizens' Services and Open Government
250 387-0172

BACKGROUNDER

GovTogetherBC furthers B.C.'s commitment to open government

Over the past year, British Columbia has done a number of things to put open government front and centre:

• B.C.'s open government policies were written into law through amendments to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection Act in the fall of 2011.

• In July 2011, B.C. launched a redesigned government homepage, as well as the DataBC and Open Information sites. These sites enhance citizen-centred service delivery and support our open government objectives.

B.C.'s open government initiatives are already seeing great success. For example:

• Using data from the Open Data site, developers have put together mobile apps that make it easier for British Columbians to find services across B.C. For example, the B.C. Health Services Locator app.

• In February 2012, B.C. received a 2011 Public Sector Leadership Award for open government from IPAC, the Institute of Public Administration of Canada.

• In March 2012, B.C. became the first province in Canada to release its provincial budget data as open data.

• In April 2012, B.C. achieved the number-one ranking in Canada for eGovernment in a study released by the Stanford Institute.

Find out more:

Check out our redesigned online presence at: www.gov.bc.ca

Access thousands of government data sets at: www.data.gov.bc.ca

Read through information requests at: www.openinfo.gov.bc.ca

Contact:

Jason Macnaughton
Communications Manager
Ministry of Labour, Citizens' Services and Open Government
250 387-0172