1. CMNS 261 Finding Public Policy Documents
Sylvia Roberts

2. Policy: Definition
…an overall plan embracing general goals and procedures and intended to guide and determine decisions.
   The Penguin English Dictionary .(2000). Retrieved 04 February 2006, from xreferplus. .

3. Public policy changes initiated by…
Political parties (election promises)
International treaties
Government departments responding to environmental influences, e.g. technology
Interest groups such as consumer or trade associations
Expert bodies

4. Public policy documented in…
Legislation: bills, statutes, regulations
Committee reports, proceedings, evidence
Record of debates (Hansard)
Annual reports & budgets for ministries, government agencies
Position papers by ministries, NGOs, industry associations, think tanks, etc.
Policy manuals
Case law

5. Event Document Legislation introduced Debate in parliament 2nd reading
Referred to committee
3rd reading
Senate
Royal assent
In force
Specific aspects regulated
1st reading bill
Hansard record of debates
Committee report
3rd reading bill
Possible amendments
Annual statutes
Order in Council
Regulations

6. Public policy research
Both primary & secondary sources are important in understanding public policy
Ask yourself:
What’s the subject of the policy?
What jurisdiction is responsible: federal, provincial, municipal / local?
Is the policy based on law or some other authority?
What documents express this policy?

7. Primary sources Crucial in defining policy
Primary public policy documents produced and distributed by government departments & agencies, legislative bodies, courts
Documentary research into public policy involves records of
Intended policy
Implementation & interpretation of policy
Review of policy

8. Secondary sources Provide background for in-depth analysis
Provide clues to help identify primary documents
Examples:
Monographs & research reports
Academic journal articles
News articles
Reports from think tanks & policy institutes
Position papers produced by interest groups (industry, NGOs, consumers, professionals)

9. RESEARCH TIPS CHRONOLOGY: trace policy issue not document
READ the policy document
Follow the research guides
Take good notes as you go AND follow leads for chronology & interest groups
Talk to librarians if you encounter difficulties
Use citation guides for government documents

10. How to find policy sources?
START by reading your policy document
Note significant groups, events and documents, especially:
Government (ministries, agencies, committees)
Interest groups, researchers, lobbyists (witnesses, submissions)
Legislation, law cases, policy papers
Significant events and dates

11. Branches of Canadian Gov’t
Our Country, Our Parliament
Legislative (Parliament, elected members, law-making)
House of Commons
Senate
Executive (government, decision making, management)
Cabinet (ministers)
Federal departments
Judicial (Federal courts)

12. Legislative branch documents
Bills (proposed legislation)
Statutes (legislation that’s been passed)
Regulations (specific aspects of statutes)
Committee reports
Minutes & evidence of committee meetings
Hansard (record of Parliamentary debates)

13. Finding legislative documents
Parliamentary web site
Pending legislation (bills): LEGISinfo
Committee business via Senate or House of Commons pages
Choose committee
Choose session of parliament
Search the text of the Debates of the House of Commons in Hansard
Library of Parliament Legislative summaries
Use secondary source (specialized encyclopedias, indexes, articles) to find relevant legislation by topic

14. Executive branch documents
Position papers
Program reports
Studies
Proposed budgets
Task force & Royal Commission reports
Annual reports & other administrative materials

15. Finding executive documents
Search Government of Canada, to identify key gov’t agencies concerned with this topic
Continue by searching/browsing web sites for these specific ministries or government agencies
Use the Canadian Research Index to identify gov’t reports and policy papers by topic
Look for references to gov’t bodies and specific policy documents in academic literature and news articles

16. Judicial branch (Law reports)
Law reports are published judicial decisions e.g. CCH Canadian Ltd v. Law Society of Upper Canada
Use secondary sources specific to legal materials to identify case reports by topic:
The Canadian encyclopaedic digest, western,
The Canadian Abridgement Digests
Index to Canadian Legal Literature
You can also find references to case law in academic literature and news articles

17. Interest groups
Legislation & government policy is influenced by consultation with constituents / citizens and with interest groups
Interest groups may focus on a single issue or represent a specific political perspective on many issues

18. Interest Groups may represent:
Activists
NGOs
Cultural perspectives (language, religion)
Demographic perspectives (disabilities, seniors, poverty)
Professionals
Consumers
Citizens
Think tanks
Trade unions
Bureaucrats
Industry

19. Identifying Interest Groups
Begin identifying stakeholders for your policy issue by looking at list of witnesses and submissions in your policy document
Supplement this with individuals or groups named in secondary sources (e.g. news) and on association web sites

20. Identifying Interest Groups’ Positions
Go to the Parliamentary web site to find Committee proceedings, minutes and evidence
Look for publications by or about these groups on the web, such as:
position papers
listserv discussions
letters to government
Use news sources to search for articles that mention or quote them

21. Other national policy documents
Government structures or their view on a policy issue may differ from Canada
You can use government portals to search for documents BUT it’s easier to identify a related document by searching secondary sources (news or article indexes, web searches)
THEN search for specific document using the name