Saturday, April 11, 2009

Worthy of comment

Earlier this week, I pointed out the NDP's task forces which are now listening to input from Canadians across the country as to the effects of the Harper recession as well as public ideas to deal with the economy. But it's worth pointing out another development on the task force websites: to my recollection, the "Join the Conversation" sections of the two sites represent the first time any of the national parties in Parliament have included comment threads on an official party site.

Of course, that figures to be a relatively small step in trying to generate the kind of public discussion that I'd ultimately like to see the NDP facilitating - particularly when both the Bloc and Greens have already allowed for comments on official party blogs. But it's still a plus to see some progress toward encouraging conversation rather than simply using party websites as tools for top-down communications.

Incidentally, I should note that in the Saskatchewan NDP leadership race, Dwain Lingenfelter seems to be ahead of his competitors in the same department as the lone contender to include a form for readers to reply to news items. Though it's interesting to note that doesn't seem to have been much public response to the opportunity.

No comments:

Post a Comment