GDR = Government Directive on Regulating

I have submitted the following to the PCO (Privy Council Office),
responsible for the GDR which is part of so-called "Smart Regulations".

EMAIL YOUR INPUT to SMART Regulations to: info@regulation.gc.ca
DEADLINE: December 23rd.

As always, this is about creating a critical mass of support.

Cheers!
Sandra
=============================

Dear Daniel, Samir, and Ben, (PCO)

This input follows:
(1) REGARDING SELF-CENTREDNESS   (submitted to you Nov 25)
(2) COMPLIANCE background    (submitted to you Nov 28).
----------

(3) REGARDING THE STATE OF COMPLIANCE   (Canadians are learning
non-compliance)

PROPOSE: test the effectiveness of the GDR document by running actual
events through it.

The GDR states:

page 2, line 77: "Regulations are a form of law - they have binding legal
effect ..."

page 10, line 475, Under "Planning for Compliance": "Departments and
agencies are responsible for facilitating compliance by designing regulation
from the perspective of those who must administer or comply with it."

That is most of what the GDR says about compliance.

---------------------------------------

PUT THE GUN REGISTRY AND THE 2006 CENSUS THROUGH THE GDR:

Canadians are learning non-compliance. We need to understand why that is,
and then build the regulatory framework to guard against it, if possible.

RECENT EXAMPLES OF NON-COMPLIANCE
(1) The ability of the Canadian Government to regulate was seriously
undermined by the Gun Registry. There are very high levels of
non-compliance, a thumbing of the nose at the Government.

(2) When citizens see the amount of corruption in the Government there is
further loss of respect and the ability to regulate suffers another great
setback. There is a high level of non-compliance with Income Tax
regulation, a form of resistance or passive agressive behaviour by citizens
reacting to corruption in Government. Why should we pay taxes when hundreds
of millions of dollars of that money are used to line the pockets of
racketeers?

(3) I suspect we are headed into unprecedented levels of non-compliance
with the 2006 Census. The Government went ahead with the contracting out of
census work to the American military company, Lockheed-Martin, in spite of
great opposition from Canadians.

(4) The regulatory function in Health Canada through its subsidiary agency,
the PMRA (Pest Management Regulatory Agency), is in disarray.
Municipalities and one province (Quebec) have stepped in and taken over part
of the regulation of pesticides. This is 77 municipalities with many more
to come, now that the Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal of the
Toronto pesticide bylaw. The bylaw stands.

Problems with compliance are exacerbated: why should citizens comply with
regulations when the Federal Government refuses to regulate industry? In 4
consecutive reports beginning in 1988 the Auditor General's Department
(Sustainability section) told the Government that the PMRA was not doing its
job; no correction came about, municipalities had to step in.

It is noted that in every community where there has been a pesticide bylaw
battle whether successful or not, the battle involves putting information
into the hands of citizens. Every battle means yet more people become aware
of Government agencies such as the PMRA whose clients are the chemical
industry and the concommitant lack of regulation. The lack of regulation is
explained by John Kenneth Galbraith, see below "(3) STATE OF GOVERNANCE."

(5) A large portion of the cases taken to court by the Sierra Legal Defence
Fund are against Government, for failure to enforce its own regulations.
Non-compliance by industry is over-looked in some industries. The situation
is exacerbated by Government policy to reduce funding to Government
departments, while simultaneously money is routed to corporations through
public-private partnerships, contracting out, etc.

The non-compliance examples fall into two categories, EQUALLY SERIOUS:

the failure of the Government to regulate industry and the increasing
non-compliance by citizens.

Run the Gun Registry and the 2006 Census through the GDR. Does it, or CAN
it, address non-compliance? What lessons are to be learned? Can someone,
somewhere, come up with some form of ingenuity to address serious issues
around non-compliance?

-------------------------

MY THOUGHTS

A statement of the CONTEXT in which the GDR is being developed will provide
authenticity to the document.

Communities of people require forms of social ingenuity that enable them to
acknowledge problems and put them squarely on the table, to be dealt with.
If you only know how to skate around the problems, you can never expect them
to be resolved. They await crisis. The regulatory regime is on its way to
crisis, from the examples mentioned, and from the fact that it has been
totally ineffective in halting the march to an environment that is incapable
of sustaining life.

HOW do we get the reality of the situation onto the table? The GDR
addresses compliance, but in an unauthentic manner. It does not speak truly
to the situation surrounding compliance.

People are drawn to the authentic. If you want support for the GDR, the
document has to be authentic.

At the public meeting in Saskatoon, Ben (from the PCO) alluded to context in
his presentation but did not elaborate. He spoke of the GDR "relative to
the realities of our time." Those "realities" are the context that needs to
be stated in the GDR.

An elaboration to help understand CONTEXT is appended.

But it is probably not necessary. If the GDR is to be consistent (what's
good for the goose is good for the gander), it MUST set out context:

GDR, page 5, lines 195 to 198 read:

"When assessing public policy issues, departments and agencies are expected
to:
- analyze and document the issue AND ITS CONTEXT, including its immediate
and long-term impacts on health, safety and security, the quality of the
environment, and the economic and social well-being of Canadians; ..."

Surely, if departments and agencies are expected to document context, then
the Government already recognizes the value of a statement of context, and
PCO must follow its own directives. The GDR requires a statement of
context.

I propose a statement of CONTEXT, along the following lines. And will refer
to it in subsequent emails when addressing other topics related to the GDR.
The statement I propose is an accurate reflection of today's reality; it
will be resisted by Government. But the situation around compliance is
serious. Innovative steps and leadership are required to retrieve it. In
order to be progressive, the GDR must at least recognize the current
situation.

You achieve compliance without force IF people embrace the laws and
regulations. The draft GDR states "Regulations are a form of law - they
have binding legal effect ...". As the gun registry and 2006 census reveal,
this statement is vacuous if a large number of people choose non-compliance.

If you have had three years of training at a law school you will be more
inclined to believe the statement about "binding legal effect" than if you
have not received that training. The drafters of legislation and regulation
have been trained at law schools; the thinking that permeates regulatory
documents may therefore be based on a shaky premise or belief in the
superiority of the law. There is a hint of threat behind the words "this is
the law ... (you will go to jail if you don't comply)".

The majority of people embrace that which is authentic, which is to say they
embrace truth. The document must reflect what is true, if we are to begin a
reversal in the direction that compliance is headed.

----------------------

PROPOSED STATEMENT OF CONTEXT, TO BE WORKED ON:

"The Regulatory Directive is designed to address the realities of our time.
The realities are stated to enable users to better apply individual
ingenuity to the creation of a responsive and responsible regulatory regime:

1) STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT. Climate change is a known threat. The
pressure on water resources is mounting. A world standard for gauging
threats to biodiversity exists. Many species face a high risk of extinction
in the near future.

2) STATE OF HEALTH. There are rising levels of disease related to
environmental toxins.

3) STATE OF SCIENCE. Confidence in science has been seriously eroded by
corporate purchase and manipulation of "science" and scientists. Some 6,000
scientists including 48 Nobel laureates, 62 National Medal of Science
recipients, and 135 members of the National Academy of Sciences have signed
the Union of Concerned Scientists' (UCS) statement, "Restoring Scientific
Integrity in Policy Making.

3) STATE OF GOVERNANCE. Unacceptable levels of corruption exist. "Public
Private Partnerships" have been promoted since 1982. Government is a part
of industry through entities such as BioTech Canada and other public-private
partnerships. From John Kenneth Galbraith's, The Economics of Innocent
Fraud - Truth for our Time, published in 2004:

"... As the corporate interest moves to power in what was the public sector,
it serves, predictably, the corporate interest. That is its purpose. ...One
obvious result has been well-justified doubt as to the quality of much
present regulatory effort. There is no question but that corporate
influence extends to the regulators. . Needed is independent, honest,
professionally competent regulation ... This last must be recognized and
countered. There is no alternative to effective supervision. ."

(4) GOVERNMENTS AND CITIZENS OPERATE IN A 4-YEAR TIME HORIZON, with little
incentive to take long-term perspectives.

(5) ECONOMIC MODEL IN USE: In 2005, the Governments in Canada use
out-dated and misleading accounting procedures. They do not include
depletion of assets (natural resources) and cost of rehabilitation in
economic evaluations. Businesses have to account for depletion of assets
(depreciation). GDP does not. Such a model enables one to justify
economic activity that is plunder with no thought for the ability of the
economy to function in the future. Businesses could not last if they took
this approach. Nor can a national or provincial economy in the long term.
Enlightened jurisdictions recognize the need for GDP to reflect resource
depletion and rehabilitation costs if it is to be a helpful tool. There is
pressure on Governments to adopt "Full Cost Accounting", also referred to as
accounting for the costs and benefits of "externalities".

(6) KNOWLEDGE LEVEL: In 2005, we don't know a lot. If our state is one of
ignorance, we should proceed with a great deal of caution. The Precautionary Principle

the report made by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987.

(7) LEGAL ENVIRONMENT IN 2005. In 2001 from the Globe & Mail (excerpts):
"the Supreme Court of Canada for the sixth consecutive time came down on the
side of environmental protection in a precedent-setting decision. ... "The
protection of the environment has become one of the major challenges of our
time." (words from Supreme Court decision). "...the Supreme Court upheld
the law, noting that environmental protection is a "fundamental value in
Canadian society.". "in the Voisey's Bay nickel mine, a Newfoundland court
issued one of the most strongly worded environmental judgments in Canadian
legal history, emphasizing "the urgency of controlling the destruction of
the Earth's environment."

All Canadians and their Governments are bound by the decisions of the
Supreme Court.

(8) CORPORATE WORLD
The movie "The Corporation" has contributed to people's willingness to
challenge the role of the corporation in society.

Corporate power is a major cause of health problems, according to the
October/December 2005 special issue of the International Journal of
Occupational and Environmental Health. Contributions to the issue reveal how
corporate structure results in pressure to influence science and place the
public at risk from pesticides, lead, asbestos, toxic municipal sewage
sludge, and other harmful substances."

(9) RELATIONSHIPS
In 2005 it is recognized that we live in a time of great disconnection.
People continue to move to urban centres where "the neighbours" are not
known. People are disconnected from food sources . There is a failure to
recognize our relationship to the natural world, that survival is dependent
upon the gifts we are given: water, air, seeds, children. We abuse that
which would be recognized as sacred if we were intelligent beings. Our
ignorance is reflected in our language: water, trees, energy sources are
"resources" to be exploited, not gifts to be cherished.

(10) SOCIETAL STRUCTURES
We are in a period of de-construction and re-construction. The institutions
in the society that do not serve us well are being taken apart and
re-defined. There is increasing movement away from hierarchical structures
to relationships based on equality. The control of information by
"credentialled" authorities is challenged by the access to information given
by the internet. Titles used to address people are falling into dis-use.

(11) LEADERSHIP
In response to the problems in governance, there is a proliferation of
non-government organizations that seek to organize people around issues.
Leadership is not centred in the political parties but is being provided by
growing numbers of people outside government.

END of proposed wording for CONTEXT, to be included in the GDR document.

I will continue the discussion of COMPLIANCE in another email.

=======================================

THOUGHTS REGARDING "CONTEXT" IN DECISION-MAKING

A decision process is unsound if it fails to address context.
The principle can be applied generally, but using the Great Sand Hills
example:

The CONTEXT in which the Great Sand Hills exist in 2005 should be

a separate item in the Reporting Document because it is a crucial
consideration, a determinant. (The conclusions I would reach about a child
in a refugee camp in Ethiopia could be starkly different from those reached
in relation to a child raised in Disneyland Villa because of only one
consideration: the context in which their lives are set is dramatically
different. Failure to delineate context would be a serious error. Other
examples of the importance of context: decisions about prairie resource
allocation would be very different in a contextual setting of 1830 compared
to the conditions that will exist in 2030. Decisions related to women could
be very different in the context of a fundamentalist Muslim community versus
Hollywood.)

The Scoping Document identifies some items of context. But what would
constitute a comprehensive list? Of what is context composed? ... off the
top of my head - factors that affect a decision outcome because they
constitute the environment in which the decision is made:

- legal context
- system of governance (a decision made in an oppressive regime will be
different from the same decision made in a democracy)
- time in history
- levels of awareness (is it an Age of Enlightenment or one of relative
ignorance?)
- community values
- ecological context

The CONTEXT in which a decision is made needs to be spelt out. It greatly
affects the decision and what becomes of the decision. One benefit of
addressing CONTEXT is that some items of context can be changed.

---- (section deleted) -----

The terms-of-reference of a report can pre-determine the outcome to support
wrong-headed policy. Conversely, the terms-of-reference can acknowledge
and give appropriate weight to factors that contribute to a wholesome
decision-making process. The inclusion of "context" in the
terms-of-reference serves a legitimate need and will contribute to sound
decisions, thereby to solid public policy.

============================
Email from:
Sandra Finley
Saskatoon, SK
306-373-8078
sabest1@sasktel.net