For my group essay I intend to look at how participation by community stakeholders are integral part to a community's sustainability. Therefore, I decided to research some literature on capacity development from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The FAO defined capacity development
as follows:
“the ability of people, organizations and society as a whole to manage their affairs successfully. Capacity development is the process of unleashing, strengthening and maintaining of such capacity".
The UNDP goes further by saying that capacity development is better sustained over the long-term through these four drivers: institutional arrangements, leadership, knowledge and accountability. I do concur with these statements because they align with the municipal sustainability initiatives currently prevailing in various municipalities in Alberta to encourage their viability. Viability is measured based on the following matrix: administrative capacity, regional corporation, infrastructure, financial health, service delivery, risk vulnerability, community’s health, and sustainable governance. The success of these viability indicators will be dependent upon how the process is managed. Viability will be determined by how these four drivers work together in the process in any community development and sustainability. One aspect of the drivers for capacity building that I find encouraging is ‘knowledge building’. I find it encouraging because it helps promotes participation. Without citizenry involvement, through participation, ideas cannot be shared to educate the community. As a key ingredient to capacity building will be the involvement of all community stakeholders, including the youth, to ensure a community’s sustainability. The youth is a key piece to any community or municipality’s long term’s sustainability because not only do they contribute as future resource, but also encouraging them to participate in community initiatives helps contribute to their well being and positive development.
My FOIP research exposed some intricacies about privacy issues in Canada. The issue of privacy is become a sensitive issue in Canada.
There has been an upsurge in the use of data mining to categorize people into groups; in addition to the use of other tools such as CCTV cameras, radio frequency identification (RFID), chips, global positioning system, street imaging software, location trackers, website cookies, facial recognition software and store loyalty cards, social networking cites, and the use of computer programs by security services. Furthermore, some concern was raised by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada about corporations (Information brokers) selling our personal information, and people not really informed about how their privacy is breached on a daily basis post 9/11 when “big brother” is watching without any legislative oversight. Ironically, some research done in Canada provided some really surprising results, even though privacy laws are way stronger in Canada in contrast to the U.K and U.S. A research conducted by the Strategic Counsel in August 2005 found that 72 per cent of Canadians polled support having video cameras in all public places. However, their support failed to take into consideration that to consent to this kind of surveillance should be contigent upon how great the dangers are, and the alternatives for dealing with those dangers. Based on this research, one can fairly posit that the study reinforces how misinformed our citizenry maybe by supporting surveillance (the position that existence of CCTV cameras makes us feel safer) in public places without questioning the profoundness of its intrusiveness.
At the legislative level, there have been several instances where court cases have set controversial precedents. For example the 1990 R.V. Wong case that was deliberated at the Supreme Court. The court stated,
“to permit unrestricted video surveillance by agents of the state would seriously diminish the degree of privacy we can reasonably expect to enjoy in a free society. We must always be alert to the fact that modern methods of electronic surveillance have the potential, if uncontrolled, to annihilate privacy.”
The court statement is an indication that the issue of privacy is going to be one of the challenges in this era because contemporary technology blurs the lines between what is private and public. Another challenge is the hurdle that the privacy commissioner of Canada and his provincial counterparts faces when adjudicating privacy matters. Privacy impact assessments also make the administration of surveillance a daunting effort because of the possibility of violation or breaching citizenry rights. It is not an easy task to adopt a surveillance policy considering the sensitivities with privacy issues; even though, there are guidelines to help various public bodies manage protocols they may institute.
My meeting with the IT department on Tuesday gave me an insight into the state of how things were as per the management of surveillance records and the operation of surveillance equipment under IT's supervision. Moving forward, I will be shaping my discussions with various department heads and staff to include what protocols they have in place for accessing, storing, retaining, disclosing, and destroying surveillance records. Focusing on these areas will help guide the policy discussion to be in line with the FOIP Guide to Using Surveillance Cameras in Public Areas (PDF)Guide to Using Surveillance Cameras in Public Areas (PDF).
My meeting with the Aquatics Director went well. She was enthusiastic about the development of the policy because it will provide a sense of direction as to how long records are to be kept, and a protocol for how to manage the city's surveillance cameras in general.
I met the Community Service Director this morning, June 03, 2011, at 9:30am. He was very supportive of the project, and I got to know the number of city units under his management. Most importantly, I got know that there were some faccilities that have been leased out by his department. The city has access to surveillance records gathered by those who lease city facilities. It was helpful to know this about the renters of city properties because it will help shape my future consultation with other departments. In the coming weeks, I will be asking other departments to list any city properties that have been leased out. This will ensure that if these leased properties have any form of video surveillance the city is aware of.
Sights & Sounds from Jaywalkers
Reference
"Alberta: Jasper considers video surveillance :[Final Edition]." The Ottawa Citizen, May 8, 2006, http://www.proquest.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/ (accessed June 1, 2011).
Anderson, John C. "Brave new world: The impact of access legislation on retention in Alberta municipalities." Records Management Quarterly 29, no. 4 (October 1995): 19. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 30, 2011).
Bridger, Jeffrey C., and A.E. Luloff. 2001. "Building the Sustainable Community: Is Social Capital the Answer?." Sociological Inquiry 71, no. 4: 458-472. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 31, 2011).
Capacity Development Now
http://www.fao.org/capacitydevelopment/en/
Deborah Tetley. "Privacy boss slaps WCB; Client's info was shared :[Final Edition]." Calgary Herald, January 6, 2008, http://www.proquest.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/ (accessed June 1, 2011).
Don Butler. "Surveillance in society; We're being watched like never before by organizations of all sorts. What are the implications for our lives and our liberties?" Star - Phoenix, February 24, 2009, http://www.proquest.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/ (accessed June 1, 2011).
Drivers of Change
http://www.undp.org/capacity/driversofchange.shtml
Developmental Assets Tools
http://www.search-institute.org/assets/
Electronic surveillance: Who is watching you? http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/electronic_surveillance.html
Privacy and Technology: More Action Needed. Six Annual Access to Information and Privacy Conference: Technology — Enhancing or Undermining Democracy? http://www.priv.gc.ca/speech/2005/sp-d_050420_e.cfm
Privacy Commissioner's finding on video surveillance by RCMP in Kelowna. http://www.priv.gc.ca/cf-dc/pa/2001-02/02_05_b_011004_e.cfm
“Fighting crime with databases.” http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/data-mining.html
Edmonton installs security cameras near downtown bars. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2008/07/09/edm-jasper-cameras.html
Surveillance cameras keep Canada Day violence down on Whyte Avenue. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2003/07/02/ed_candaycam20030702.html
The growing fight over personal information. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2010/02/05/f-privacy-data-mining.html
Steel, Kevin. "Say cheese and keep on walking." Alberta Report / Newsmagazine 25, no. 27 (June 22, 1998): 31. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 30, 2011).
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