Fiscal Blueprint: Finance Minister Jim Flaherty

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty: Since 2006, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has conducted annual pre-budget consultations with Canadians via the web, asking for electronic input into the country's fiscal blueprint, according to CTV. But the online consultations never drew more than 7,760 submissions, at their peak in 2007. And the latest round for the 2013 budget attracted a paltry 642, the second-lowest after the 600 received for budget 2010 and OTTAWA -- A federal experiment in digital democracy has flopped, with critics saying it was never anything more than a gimmick in the first place. In launching so-called e-consultations when the Conservatives first came to power more than seven years ago, Flaherty said the "new government is taking accountability and openness to a higher level." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.