New report finds Government of Canada scores low on transparency of evidence usage
OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 31, 2022 /CNW/ - In a new report, titled "Eyes On Evidence II: An assessment of the transparency of evidence usage in the Government of Canada," Evidence for Democracy (E4D) evaluated 100 policies from the Government of Canada using a transparency framework. E4D found that federal policies scored low on the transparency of evidence usage, meaning that it's difficult for the public to find the evidence behind government policy.
"In Eyes On Evidence, we asked: can the evidence behind policy decisions be found by the lay public?" said Farah Qaiser, E4D's Director of Research and Policy. "It's an important question because government policy is in essence a public good. Policy-making must be as transparent as possible so that we can understand what considerations lead to a decision, and why."
In recent years, the Government of Canada has repeatedly committed to using the best available science and evidence in its decision-making. Mandate letters issued to Cabinet ministers in 2015, 2019 and 2021 have all stated a commitment to the "use of science and evidence-based decision-making."
If the public is to assess what progress has been made in this endeavour, individuals must be given the opportunity to scrutinize the relationship between evidence and policy decisions.
E4D's assessment found that policies often failed to provide a reference or citation for any evidence mentioned. Almost all policies scored poorly in the testing and evaluation section (i.e., to know how and when a policy has worked), and rarely explored the merits of alternative policy options, or acknowledged any absent, weak or contradictory evidence.
Read the full report: https://evidencefordemocracy.ca/en/research/reports/eyes-evidence-ii
Evidence for Democracy is the leading, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization promoting the transparent use of evidence in government decision-making in Canada. https://evidencefordemocracy.ca/en
SOURCE Evidence for Democracy
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