People wait in line at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Montréal in June 2021. Attitudes toward COVID-19 guidance evolved over the course of the pandemic.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
During the pandemic, it was common for politicians to explain their COVID-19 policies by saying they were ‘just following the science.’ Such claims can be misleading about both science and government.
It is clear that some public trust in public health, science and government has been lost in Canada and around the world.
(Shutterstock)
Now is the time to learn from the COVID-19 response through an action-oriented independent inquiry focused on accountability. Reforms to data generation, access and use are essential.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, in a wheelchair as she returns to the Senate after a more than two-month absence, May 10, 2023.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Physical ailments and deteriorated health may be the one area in which politicians can escape scrutiny.
A new law will erode public oversight into police misconduct. In this July 2021 photo, police are seen clearing a homeless encampment in Toronto.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Upcoming changes to how complaints against Ontario police officers are processed will make it even harder to monitor human rights violations by police.
Police officers patrol the entrance of the Tate Modern gallery, in London, Oct. 15, 2022, after climate protesters threw soup over glass covering Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ in London’s National Gallery.
(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Perceptions that South African police treat people disrespectfully, lack impartiality or transparency, and are prone to brutality
undermine public confidence in them.
In Kenya, social media has become a new battleground in electoral campaigns.
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The Coalition has made promises on whistleblower protection and must soon reveal its plan for a federal integrity commission. Now is the time for both parties to prove they can take real action.
The strong disapproval of the South African government’s handling of the pandemic is a warning that crafting persuasive pro-vaccine messages is not enough.
There’s much that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government has yet to explain to South Africans about the COVID-19 vaccine procurement.
Getty Images
South Africa’s constitutional values of good public governance and transparency in public procurement have been sacrificed in the process of buying COVID-19 vaccines.
When the scientific establishment gets involved in partisan politics, surveys suggest, there are unintended consequences – especially for conservatives.
WE Charity’s Marc Kielburger, left, and Craig Kielburger, right, appear as witnesses via videoconference at a House of Commons finance committee hearing in Ottawa in July 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
On paper, WE Charity could have been the best partner to implement the federal government’s student grant program. But the failure to be transparent eroded the public’s trust and led to its demise.
Parents and the public are in the dark about how Alberta developed its back-to-school plan.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Vague references don’t cut it. The public deserves to know exactly how Alberta is relying on science, realism and high-quality problem-solving in its back to school plans during COVID-19.
Australians have more trust in their government and leader to deal with the pandemic than people in US, UK and Italy. Confidence in state and territory leaders, however, is far lower.
Getting the right information during the pandemic has been a matter of life and death.
FivosVas via Shutterstock
A survey of 1,268 people has found that the BBC is popular across all age groups. But all media needs to pay more attention to devolved and local news.