2015 Queen’s Printers Association of Canada Conference Open Government Open Information Canada Gazette Directorate

Last Year’s Achievements and Recent Innovations

Drop Box Clients and messengers delivering notices in person for publication in the Canada Gazette may now place them in a specially marked drop box located outside the Canada Gazette Directorate’s (CGD) office. With this additional option, the CGD now offers five different ways to submit notices, namely by mail, fax, messenger, email and via the new drop box.

InDesign Layout Tool Twitter The project aiming at producing the Part I quarterly index is now completed and is a success. Part I and Part II of the Canada Gazette are done entirely with this tool. Only the Consolidated Index and Part III (Acts of Parliament) continue to be done on Word (Privy Council Office) and PDF (Justice Canada), respectively. Twitter The CGD issues tweets via the official PWGSC Corporate Twitter account whenever it has an important announcement or interesting fact to share.

Current Initiatives

Electronic Transmission of Notices More electronically-transmitted notices from federal and non-federal clients are gradually being accepted. Presently, the following client groups have agreements in place with the CGD and may submit their notices electronically for publication in the Canada Gazette, Part I: All private sector clients Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunication Commission Canadian International Trade Tribunal Public Service Commission Eastern/Western Canada Marine Response Corporation Privy Council Office (Notice of Vacancies) Industry Canada (Appointments)

On-screen Editing Process The CGD is still working on completing the modernization of the Canada Gazette Directorate’s (CGD) editing methods and approach to bring them in line with the on-screen editing tools currently available in the industry. The testing phase with one more new tool called Adobe InCopy will commence this summer, and the new method will be fully implemented by spring of 2016. The CGD also wishes to implement a workflow management system to manage all the tasks performed by its team. Several options have been looked at and one system seems to perfectly fit the CGD’s needs. Unfortunately, this system has to go through the Department’s approval process, which could delay its implementation.

Email Notification Service In the coming months, clients will be able to subscribe to an email notification service that will advise them when new content is added to certain sections of the Canada Gazette’s Web pages. RSS Feeds By March 2016, the CGD plans to launch RSS feeds for all remaining content published in the Canada Gazette, Part I and Part II. The automation of as many functions as possible, such as generating RSS feeds for the entire content of Part I and Part II, will continue.

List of Queen’s Printers for Canada The Canada Gazette Directorate (CGD) is in the process of updating and completing the list of past Queen’s Printers for Canada (from beginning to present time) located on the Queen’s Printers Association of Canada (QPAC) Web site. The names and contact information of several Queen’s Printers needed to be updated and/or added. This is a special project being conducted by a senior staff member who has 26 years of service at the CGD, and much corporate memory. Multiple research techniques are being employed : contacting a colleague from the former Printing Bureau, contacting a former Queen’s Printer, performing a search in archived electronic issues of the Canada Gazette on Library and Archives Canada’s Web site, performing Internet searches.

Open Government Open Data Open Information Open Dialogue

Open Data, Open Information and Open Dialogue The CGD is connecting faster and more easily with Canadians by, amongst other ways, posting tweets on PWGSC’s Twitter account and offering RSS feeds. Also all of the Canada Gazette issues from 1841 up to 1997 have been digitalized and are accessible to all Canadians via our Web site on the Library and Archives Canada’s Web site. Improving Business Process Efficiency Having put in place the electronic transmission of documents for private sector clients and some government clients, the CGD is reducing its reliance on paper and increasing its use of digital technologies. Sustainable Record Keeping The CGD has implemented the record management tool GCDOCS. This system enables for the sharing, use and access of information across the department, significantly changing the way electronic information is handled.

IM/IT Transformation PWGSC has adopted a new, integrated approach to service transformation. In alignment with this approach, the CGD has transferred its technical resources and systems to the Chief Information Officer Branch (CIOB). CIOB’S mandate it is to ensure the availability of systems and information that PWGSC needs to serve its clients effectively, and providing best-of-breed, modern and optimized systems in support of the mission critical services of the Government of Canada. The transition has not been without its challenges. Since the transfer, CIOB has struggled to ensure the availability of dedicated resources to meet the CGD’s “mission critical” needs, and has had difficulty providing the level of support required by the CGD. Both sides remain committed to working towards the establishment of a solid partnership.

Changes to the Monarchy

From Queen to King and vice versa In 1901, upon Queen Victoria’s death on January 22nd, King Edward VII was declared her successor. A proclamation was published immediately in the Canada Gazette after the death announcement. King to Queen: In 1952, upon King George VI’s death on February 6th, Queen Elizabeth II was declared his successor. His death announcement also appeared in the Canada Gazette.

Findings Past practices have shown that announcements of the passing of a British monarch have historically been published in the Canada Gazette. Canadian federal law refers to both “King” and “Queen” within its Interpretation Act (Interpretation Act, art. 35 (1)). The Constitution of the Queen’s Printers Association of Canada indicates that changes from “Queen” to “King” should be automatic in the event of a succession in monarchy.

Elements to Consider Changes to the monarchy entail a few considerations from the Queen’s Printers Association’s point of view: Update of the QPAC’s logo and of its Web site Update of the QPAC’s Constitution and Bylaws Issuance of updated certificates for the King’s Printer What else?

Questions and Comments