What Is The Audit?
Our world is complicated (and Canada is straight-up weird). As governments and large institutions project more and more influence over our private and economic lives, they’re adding their own new layers of complication.
Can we reasonably expect to properly understand all the regulations, policies, and trends directly impacting us?
Can we afford not to?
The good news is that, for at least the last decade, governments at all levels have been busy publishing truckloads of data representing official policies along with their outcomes. For the most part, that data is available in the public domain and just sits there, waiting for us to come and get it.
This publication was created with the expectation that sophisticated data analytics tools - including AI models - can tame those intimidating datasets and reveal powerful, fact-based insights into how we’re being governed and how that could be improved.
Such thoughtful analysis can act as an oversight mechanism for adding transparency to government and, potentially, bringing incompetence and corruption to account. Or, in other words, perform the job that was once expected of journalists. Don’t believe me? Check this example out for yourself:
Who Owns Canada's Public Debt?
During his recent election campaign, Mark Carney announced plans to add $225 billion (with a “b”) to federal debt over the next four years. That, to put it mildly, is a consequential number. I thought it would be useful to put it into context, both in terms of our existing debt, and of some social and political changes those plans could spark.
Or this:
The Hollow Emptiness of Canadian Electoral Representation
A couple of months back I wrote about how real-world political representation for Canadians can be deeply unequal. One vote does not have the same power in PEI as it does in BC. And, in any case, the individual MPs we elect are largely powerless to do anything meaningful on behalf of their constituents.
The Audit exists at the intersection of experience and data analytics. I know that may not sound so exciting, but I’ve actually been having a world of fun researching this stuff.
For now at least, new posts on The Audit are freely available to everyone who needs them and I’d ideally like to keep it that way. But you can always choose to upgrade to a paid subscription. Your support will allow me to both deepen and broaden the scope of this project.
If you have any thoughts about those ideas, please do let me know.
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