Dec 5, 2019, Public Records Training

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David McKie
1-613-290-7380 (cell)
Email: davidmckiec@gmail.com

 

David and Fred are co-authors of
The Data Journalist: Getting the Story“]

 

David, Fred, Rob Cribb and Dean  Jobb are co-authors of
Digging Deeper Third Edition

David McKie and Jim Bronskill are co-authors of
Your Right To Know: How to Use the Law to
Get Government Secrets

Generally speaking, data journalism describes three disciplines. First, the use of data analysis and mapping software to spot newsworthy trends; second, the ability to make people see your trend with the help of cloud-based visualization programs such as ArcGIS Online and Tableau Public; third, using coding skills to create interactive web pages and news applications.

It is also important to note that data is an example of one type of public record that journalists should be mining. Other public records include audits, minutes of meetings at federal, provincial and territorial legislatures and committees meetings of municipalities.

Federal

Federal government research
https://www.canada.ca/en.html

Open government – federal
https://open.canada.ca/en

Information about programs and information holdings
https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/access-information-privacy/access-information/information-about-programs-information-holdings/sources-federal-government-employee-information.html

Internal audit and evaluation – federal
https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/topics/audit-evaluation.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/corporate/audit-evaluation-reports.html

Public opinion research reports — Library and Archives Canada
http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/porr/Pages/porr.aspx

Parliament of Canada
https://www.ourcommons.ca/en

Library of Parliament
https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/default/en_CA

https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/

A list of open-data portals
http://www.davidmckie.com/open-data-portals/

Federal public accounts
https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset?portal_type=dataset&q=Public+accounts&organization=pwgsc-tpsgc

Office of the  Auditor General of Canada
https://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/admin_e_41.html

Financial Accountability Office of Ontario
https://www.fao-on.org/en/

Statistics Canada

StatCan release schedules

Statistics Canada’s data tables

Canada added 54,000 jobs in September, StatsCan says

To obtain the Statistics Canada tutorial on using data tables, please click here.

Statistics Canada: Labour Force Survey, September 2019

Alberta squeaks out title as Canada’s top cannabis market with $123.6M sold

Retail trade sales by province and territory (x 1,000)

Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, monthly (x 1,000,000)

Statistics Canada’s incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations data

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada 2017 Version 3.0

Population estimates, July 1, by census metropolitan area and census agglomeration, 2016 boundaries

Salaries

Top public sector earners revealed in annual Alberta sunshine list

Public sector body compensation disclosure table

Alberta Public Disclosure of Salary and Severance

Ontario Public Disclosure of Salary and Severance

Ontario

Government of Ontario
https://www.ontario.ca/page/government-ontario

Ontario Legislative Assembly
https://www.ola.org/en/node/3771

Ontario Hansard Search
https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/house-documents

Office of the Auditor General of Ontario
http://www.auditor.on.ca/

Ontario Provincial Police
https://www.opp.ca/

Office of the Chief Coroner  – Ontario
https://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/DeathInvestigations/office_coroner/coroner.html

Public Accounts of Ontario 2018-19
https://www.ontario.ca/page/public-accounts-ontario-2018-19

Ontario public disclosure of salary and severance
https://www.ontario.ca/page/public-sector-salary-disclosure

Municipalities

Township of Schreiber
http://www.schreiber.ca/

Consolidated financial statements – The Corporation of the Township of Schreiber
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6568385-2018-FINAL-Schreiber-Township-FS.html

FOCUS Media Arts Centre
https://www.regentparkfocus.com/content/aboutus.html

City of Toronto
https://www.toronto.ca/

Wikwemikong unceded territory on Manitoulin Island
https://wiikwemkoong.ca/

Municipality of Central Manitoulin
http://www.centralmanitoulin.ca/ 

 Tutorials

To obtain the pivot table tutorial, please click here.

Google Sheets guide

Google Sheets guide in Excel worksheets

SpiceUpYourSheetLife_ExcelGoogleSheetTips_BenCollins.pdf

Create a pivot table in Google Sheets with the help of this tutorial.

To obtain the tutorial on calculating per cents, please click here.

To obtain the specialized functions tutorial, please click here.