People Expect More From Government Today

Fifty years ago, if we were to ask Canadians, “What are your expectations of government?” the answer would likely be: “I expect that my government should make good decisions.” Meeting this expectation by making laws, regulations and policies that treated everyone the same seemed an acceptable standard of fairness.

Within the next 20 years, provincial ombudsman offices came into being in Canada and began responding to complaints about instances where those good substantive decisions were not being made – but something else was happening too. As Canada’s population grew and society became more complex, governments at the federal, provincial and municipal levels were becoming larger and more complex as well.

Now, in 2009, if we were to ask people that same question, “What are your expectations of government?” the answer would be far more complicated. People today still expect their government to make good substantive decisions, and they expect much more. People will also say that they expect those decisions to be made using an open, transparent process that involves them, at least for those decisions that affect them. In addition, they will say that they deserve to be treated with respect during that process.

People’s expectations today can be diagrammed on a triangle. The three sides of the triangle are the substantive – what we decide, the procedural – how we decide, and the relationship or psychological – how we are treated while the decision is being made. Expectations are higher, the bar has been raised, and governments need to recognize that different and better mechanisms are needed to meet those expectations.