Matthew Gray
@mdhgray
Followers
1,507
Following
2,951
Media
117
Statuses
2,102
Good gov’t gadfly / digital policy dilettante. For the public w/ @PascaleStOnge_ @CdnHeritage #LPC 🌹🇨🇦 🏳️🌈. Personal views.
Ottawa, Ontario
Joined September 2008
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
キャンペーン開催中
• 195543 Tweets
Haitians
• 184426 Tweets
LINGORM CHEFPOM
• 158926 Tweets
高市さん
• 85744 Tweets
#海のはじまり
• 61567 Tweets
MSSP
• 35829 Tweets
99SULWHASOO X GULF
• 35556 Tweets
フルサイズ
• 33515 Tweets
iPhone16
• 28247 Tweets
SB19 PODCAST SPECIAL EPISODE
• 27578 Tweets
Hyper Band
• 27407 Tweets
くつろぎマイルーム
• 25661 Tweets
Namaz
• 24921 Tweets
Draghi
• 23258 Tweets
#بيولي_مرفوض_من_النصراويين
• 15757 Tweets
DUNK SMN EP6
• 13915 Tweets
海ちゃん
• 12825 Tweets
カヤック
• 12587 Tweets
全員無事
• 12471 Tweets
#KP_ReXXX
• 12251 Tweets
LAZLIVE WITH KAIRAIN
• 11986 Tweets
自分の道
• 10060 Tweets
This tech exec loves his country, but seemingly not as much as every dollar in capital gains. He is among the richest 0.1% of Canadians, yet taxing him a bit more to pay for affordable housing and school lunches is ‘divisive and political’.
#cdnpoli
#taxfairness
I truly love Canada. And I am fiercely Canadian. This country will always be my home and I try my best to always spread 🇨🇦 pride all over the world.
But this isn’t the way to unite us and move us forward. This is divisive and political.
We’re better than this.
2K
346
4K
331
129
843
Doug's idea of 'running the province like a business' seems to include dozens of costly policy flip flops, cancelled contracts, and sustained effort to undermine the institutions essential to Ontario's long-term economic prosperity.
Premier Doug Ford once again stated he is a "businessman first, an elected official second". Here are some other frightening clips from his interview today including endorsing the "literal right" to win America's election and how "scary" Bernie Sanders is.
#onpoli
233
301
491
29
104
234
It always breaks my heart a little bit when I talk to an incredibly talented, smart, capable public servant who got burnt out challenging the status quo and left for the private sector.
10
11
121
When reading overwrought & self interested reactions to
#Budget24
proposed tax hike on capital gains, note it's about the 40,000 Cdns making avg of $1.4M/yr AND richest 0.01% (1,600 families) who have five times the wealth of the poorest 40% of Canadians (6.3M families)
#cdnpoli
Just devastating news for people who *checks notes* make $10 million on capital gains and will have to forego a second Maserati.
RIP!
130
251
1K
7
52
115
A rare personal update follows: It has been two weeks since I took a buyout and went on leave from Ontario’s public service, after nearly five years working to build the province’s digital government initiative. 1/...
17
0
70
Shopify is a great Canadian company, and their product has helped many small businesses adapt & thrive in a tough environment.
But reactions by their billionaire CEO &
@CADInnovators
to a modest tax increase shows that their greed trumps their patriotism.
#cdnpoli
#taxfairness
18
4
59
RT if you ❤️❤️❤️ your public library - ‘No other organization has the reach, tech, programming to help achieve digital inclusion’
#InclusionON
0
36
49
Is it just me, or do we have a habit of looking for the saviors of bureaucracy to come from outside, not within? Incredible how much more voice outsiders sometimes seem to possess.
2
2
47
Similarly, I found that the introduction in the app to be incredibly clear. Might well set a new bar for trust, transparency & user empowerment by design in digital government services (now, let’s apply that across the board 😏).
I’m impressed by the clarity of the
#CovidAlert
#privacy
disclosure. I’ve not found as readable a description of privacy protections on any other app I’ve installed. We’ve got to get 25+ million Cdns on-board before the next
#COVID19
wave.
3
30
84
3
1
43
Well, shit. That’s not how I wanted to start my visit to Toronto... Please allow me to insist that you download the app now.
5
5
41
This is an important detail - open source allows public scrutiny of every bit of code. Key to building trust & better applications. Our laws, regs & policies are open books, so let’s keep doing the same for the tech.
#cdnpoli
#digitalgov
The Ontario COVID-19 app is out today. If you're interested in technical and privacy details, source code for both the client and server are available on the Ontario government github.
3
21
44
1
12
38
This
#ONelxn
matters! 2014 turnout was 51%. In 2011, only 48%. Think about that: only 1/2 of eligible voters elected a government to oversee a $56B+ health system, education for 2M+ students, 444 municipalities, 100+ agencies, laws impacting nearly facet of daily life. GO VOTE!
0
20
29
Ontario will invest $500M over three years in rural and remote broadband, $28M over three years to create a universal, province-wide digital public library, and develop a cross-government digital inclusion strategy.
#Budget2018
>>>
1
15
29
Government technologists badly need to find sources of ideas beyond vendors and the private sector... Need to turn more often to the many rich veins of academic lit in info sci, design, public admin & policy, economics, sociology, etc., etc.
3
5
28
I don’t think I’ve had as stimulating a Saturday morning as this one at
#InclusionON
- talking geographic digital divides, access to administrative datasets, mobile mesh networks in fly-in communities, digitally-enabled open policy making 🤯🤯🤯
1
3
27
My friend shared a photo on FB celebrating his dad, who was up and working at CRA till 4AM to make sure this morning’s launch went smoothly. So much appreciation for the behind-the-scenes work of public servants to deal with this extraordinary challenge.
👏🏼
#COVID
#GC
The
@CanRevAgency
has been processing about 1000 requests per minute for the
#CERB
on average, since 6:00 am this morning ‼️
None of this would be possible without our world-class employees. Thank you to everyone who has worked tirelessly lately to get us ready for today.
#COVID
24
179
596
0
3
25
Separating the personal from the professional is an important skill in the public sector. If nobody can criticize substance of work because it will be taken personally, untested ideas will turn into groupthink and then into bad advice.
0
7
25
The
@ONgov
just released its second green paper on its
#DataStrategy
- this one covers how to encourage ICT adoption, increase availability of valuable data, streamline public procurement & build skills. Comments open until Oct 9. Pls read, share & comment.
We’re looking for your thoughts on our new paper discussing creating economic benefits in Ontario. What do you think?
0
5
3
0
18
21
Cannot believe how much better I feel now that I’m back to biking into work. Four months off cycling makes one grumpy...
2
0
21
Oh, I should perhaps also note that my tweets & likes may now get more political, seeing as how we have an election coming up and I no longer have a day-to-day role in the public service (therefore Public Service Act restrictions are loosened).
2
0
20
Me: [Needs to read up on old audits from that sober-minded, independent parliamentary officer]
Office of the Auditor General of Canada: 🎉📸👯♀️🎇
2
4
19
What joy I get from conversations with
@mhellstern
, who is an invariably inspiring human being. Talking with her always provides lessons in how one can be an empathic and thoughtful changemaker.
1
0
19
Cool:
@TheIntercept
will be implementing a commenting system by the
@coralproject
, which is working to make comments sections more inclusive, productive and just better:
Rather than throwing up their hands in frustration, the editors of the
@theintercept
reinvest in comment threads.
6
63
162
1
5
18
In government, designing with users means including everyone - users with low levels of digital skill, people with disabilities, varied language preference
#InclusionON
"A lot of government agencies don't do discovery and user research. We do," says
@hillary
. Always trying to understand user needs rather than government needs in designing tools for the public to use.
1
14
33
1
5
18
Frankly I wonder whether more needs to be done to promote local clusters of excellence, more to retain top performers, more differentiation between rank & file, generalists and specialists/experts.
1
1
18
Great to be with
@CivicTechTO
tonight, even if remotely (bonus that I can join from Ottawa)! Love and miss this community ❤️🛠🌇
#civictech
0
1
18
I’ve written a piece in
@TheHillTimes
on why the political class and commentariat should not dismiss
#DigitalGovernment
. Political leadership is sorely needed to help remake gov’t and address a growing number of difficult policy questions. Link: (subs)
1
8
16
Fell down a rabbit hole reading about public sector ethics, pol-civil service relations, and came across these 'Seven Principles for Public Life' from a UK government committee.
Going to put them on a stickie on the inside of my head.
2
7
17
DYK:
@PSPC_SPAC
changes the flags each day on Parliament Hill, and that they send them free of charge to Canadians who request them? Ten years ago I asked for one, and it’s coming soon!!
4
1
17
Went to the Trin book sale and picked up this lil’ red book (c 1982, published by GoC) for $3; will hold aloft & wave menacingly when the occasion calls for it.
1
0
16
Drew Fagan, former Ontario deputy minister, writes that it is past time for public servants to become actively involved in public discourse. Silence and invisibility no longer make sense in an era of social media & open government -
3
3
17
Just announced pilot will test new model for developing digital literacy skills among underrepresented groups across Ontario
#InclusionON
Thrilled to hear
@EMcMahonBurl
announce the province’s support of
@BrookfieldIIE
Digital Literacy + Coding pilot this morning at
#inclusionON
0
4
13
0
6
16
Any policy nerds have tips on briefing / policy advisory systems that are not based around briefing notes and slide decks? Thinking along the lines of dashboards, knowledge bases and the like.
5
2
16
So excited for this conference, and that
@ONgov
/ Ontario Digital Service is a sponsor. 🎉We're
@AccessNow
provide a platform to start greater dialogue in Canada about human rights in the digital age, &
#DigitalInclusion
#CivicTech
#A11Y
#Privacy
#InfoSec
and more
Only ONE WEEK until
#RightsCon
Toronto, where we'll be welcoming over 2000 participants from more than 115 countries.
We're almost sold out! Join us and help shape the future of human rights online: .
0
14
22
2
1
16
I love how naturally the conversation at
#InclusionON
is moving towards action both for ourselves as individuals and organizational actors -> how do we tackle these issues, where do we start?!
1
0
15
Governments need to dive into the world of open source, head first. We can build more code as a public good, putting powerful tools into everyone’s hands.
Leveraging open source technologies is one of the many ways
#GCDigital
can make government better. Check out this thread highlighting some of the great work the
@CDS_GC
is doing:
0
14
43
0
3
15
Good news this morning for Canadians who struggle with high costs of Internet access - ISED & 7 ISPs announced a new deal for $10/month / 10 Mbps / 100 GB broadband for 220,000 households receiving max amount under Canada Child Benefit:
#DigitalInclusion
1
6
16
I wish every conference had live transcription - necessary for accessibility + inclusion, but so handy too for those of us with constantly shifting attention 😂
2
4
16
Basic digital skills that are critical to broad based workforce success are not necessarily coding, but pretty unsexy stuff like knowing how to use spreadsheets. Check out Brookings’ landmark study:
0
9
15
Now that we’re starting the new year, I am officially looking for What’s Next (TM). I’d love to talk to you if you have needs for short- to medium-term help on public policy (digital/innovation bent), transformation, research, or stakeholder rel’ns! Pls RT & DM freely.😊🙏🏼
2
14
15
#DigitalInclusion
in Canada's
#Budget2017
- $13.2M for affordable internet access; $29M for digital literacy; $22.3M for assistive tech
2
17
15
Ontario Place was born in a fight between city and province - it was an Ontario PC government under Bill Davis whose public servants were dreaming big and breaking rules to build a public park and attraction for everyone.
Toronto's waterfront is not for sale.
As Mayor, I will stop the province’s plan for a private spa by withholding the 16 acres of City-owned property at Ontario Place that is needed by the Ford government to proceed with its plans for the site.
151
654
3K
0
6
14
Anyone else find Very Serious Documents much less serious when formatted in Microsoft default fonts & styles?
1
0
14
TFW you're in a cafe doing an impromptu phone interview in French, grasping to find the right word for an abstract concept, and a fellow patron suggests the word via his laptop screen🙃
1
0
14
Sometimes the line between ‘working out loud’ and self-serving self promotion is very thin. Can’t forget the many, many public servants doing vital but uncelebrated, anonymous work.
My team is quietly, deliberately, consistently doing exceptional work. Not the sexy work of blog posts and talks, the unsexy work of integrating with legacy systems, redesigning websites, and consolidating infinite forms. It's a quiet sort of revolution but powerful nonetheless.
49
126
1K
0
1
13
So energized after the
#InclusionON
Summit - so many new connections, ideas sparked, stimulating discussions - only just broke with Summit folks after talking till midnight 😪
1
0
13
I have been surprised at how often a letter in a shared mailbox reveals to me that a neighbour are in receipt of gov’t benefits (incl OW, ODSP). How do these designs pass muster under MFIPPA and FIPPA (or simply a design ethics check)?
2
1
13
Snapped what I thought was a discreet selfie with
@stephenfry
, who ducked out of the performance at intermission
0
0
11
I have decided one of my pet missions is to stop the misidentification of this pastry as a ‘chocolate croissant’. It’s not crescent shaped. It’s a pain au chocolat. I will die on this hill.
3
0
13
Omg, what a difference having access to
@uoftlibraries
collections & databases makes... Inside gov’t, access to journals is virtually nil (cut to save a couple of bucks at expense of smart policy)... Now, all the world’s knowledge at my fingertips 😈
4
0
13
I wish all conferences had a live jazz band for transitions between speakers and a dance performance to cap off the day.
#FCCSummit2019
1
0
13
Hot take: public servants should not be publicly spinning outcomes of initiatives they have worked on. Distorting perceptions and reality is not a good way of building trust or honestly serving the public.
1
0
13
@Brett_Designer
I wonder if you call colleagues in other departments ‘leeches’?
Moreover, are you aware that without the state there is no market economy?
8
0
12
But he just decided that this *whole sector* — that he’s trained for years to work in — is inhospitable to his creativity, methods & strive for excellence (my view, he’s too modest to say that).
2
1
12
Ontario's first Chief Digital Officer,
@hillary
: "Government is an amazing force for good" at
#CodeforCanada
launch
0
3
12
Fantastic - Government should be a producer and contributor to open source projects - great potential to create public goods
Just great to see
@cse_cst
working in the open like this - showing this can be done in all parts of government
#GCDigital
0
4
25
0
0
10
If you or someone you know is working on projects that might fit the bill, I’d love to talk to you. I’m interested in making new connections, sharing my experience & helping out where I can (particularly if involving research, organizing or advocacy). 7/...
3
0
12
Last night’s event at
@mozilla
has me so fired up for today’s
#InclusionON
Summit - going to hear from leaders in
#a11y
, open knowledge, Indigenous tech adoption and more. To be kicked off by first speech from
@EMcMahonBurl
as Min for
#DigiGov
1
2
11
Outrageous and obscene.
BREAKING: America's billionaires have officially gotten $2 TRILLION richer during the pandemic, largely tax-free
Elon Musk's wealth alone shot up by 1,080%
Workers struggling to afford gas, groceries, healthcare are paying their fair share this Tax Day. Billionaires should too.
201
3K
6K
0
5
12
Fantastic. This law is a great example of legislators acting proactively to set social standards & prohibitions about the use of a new technology. It can be done!
Supreme Court of Canada upholds validity of genetic privacy law
2
30
68
0
2
12
Very exciting - congrats to my former
#OntarioDigital
/ ODS colleagues for this collaboration. Looking forward to seeing & using the product.
Here's
@MartinPatriquin
and my updated
@the_logic
story on the new federal and Ontario government-backed contact tracing app, including how it works and where it came from (working title: "From ODS to Ottawa")
3
6
11
2
0
12
Storytelling + data + an interactive platform can be so powerful together. This feature shows residential schools that were closest to you, when they operated, plus stories from survivors.
1
5
10
Personally, I’ve always preferred the term ‘public money’ to ‘taxpayers’ money’.
0
3
11
@sidewalkballet
@CDS_GC
Congrats to you,
@CDS_GC
&
#GCdigital
! Thanks for all your great work to make it easier for Cdns to get the help they need. 🙌🏼
0
0
11
Starting Jan 1 2019, employers in Ontario will be required to disclose pay ranges for publicly advertised positions, once the Pay Transparency Act comes into force:
Why do places ask for salary expectations? Why? Stop doing that. Tell me what you can or will pay me so I know if I want to apply. Even a range will do.
14
39
465
1
3
10
@OC_Transpo
Dropping riders exiting R1 300m away at Tremblay for VIA Rail in middle of ice storm is not good - no sidewalk, ice & unsafe crossings - treacherous conditions esp. for seniors & PwD. Need to change drop off location in these conditions.
0
2
11
Why are Canadians so fearful of coalition governments (or, why is the political class so disinclined to explore them)? They're a perfectly legitimate configuration for governing in our system...
1
2
11
An unintended consequence, perhaps, of a Digital First approach.
Oh dear lord. People. DO NOT HAND AN UNLOCKED PHONE OVER TO POLICE. No exceptions.
226
8K
30K
0
1
11
@DavidHamer_1951
@acoyne
@JustinTrudeau
Really nobody should care about what Malcolm Turnbull thinks. He’s just another one in a line of generally retrograde and cruel Australian PMs from a party that is much the same.
1
0
10
That feeling when a tech CEO says your project proposal is the “most professional thing anyone has ever sent us”. Nice. 💪🏼
0
0
11
TFW you find a place in your new city that will sell you a massive, inexpensive, quality sandwich.
#feelslikehome
2
0
10
Q: Is it fanciful to talk digital divides when Indigenous communities don’t have clean drinking water? A: Why does it need to be one or the other? Must address many needs, including connectivity & adoption of digital technologies.
#InclusionON
0
5
10
In my experience, public servants do this a lot too, and don’t do enough to become critically aware or to shift the conversation.
0
0
10
@hondanhon
Dominant digital gov’t and civic tech paradigms are firmly rooted in neoliberal conceptions of state & society, in which the bulk of the public sector & people in it need to be exposed to disruptive innovation and market-like conditions to be made productive.
1
0
10
It’s been a great excuse to meet and nerd out with a great many people who care about the health/capacity/relevance of our public institutions in these trying times. There are so many questions to be answered, so much more work to be done. 5/...
1
0
10
Excited to be picking up the convo around who's being left behind in the digital age, what we might do about it 👇
1
1
9
.
@ISED_CA
has just launched consultations asking about barriers to participation in the digital economy, changing nature of work, privacy & data rights; plenty relating to renewed federal action to advance
#DigitalInclusion
->
Today, I launched a National Digital and Data Consultations. In order to unlock the economic opportunities our digital economy provides, Canadians must have trust. That is what our consultations will achieve, and more.
#CdnPoli
#CdnDigitalTalks
2
25
90
0
8
10
Read a work email to my private sector exec mum, seeking advice, she says "Is this how people talk in gov't? It's intense & a bit pompous"
1
0
9
Spent a few minutes this aft perusing UofT’s government publications collection, and was reminded of how much gov’t’s - digital initiatives in particular - take their information functions for granted.
1
0
9
When students asked her for more online content, Nancy wanted to make sure no-one was left behind:
#DigitalInclusion
0
3
9
Folks right now clamoring for projections should recognize that acknowledging uncertainty can be much more intellectually honest & responsible than providing false certainty. Particularly true when so much is at stake.
0
3
8
Hahaha .... my inbox infinity approach has finally been supported by the evidence. I am vindicated after years of shaming by my better organized colleagues ! 😎🥳
Important finding: sorting your email is pointless. Putting email in folders wastes an an average of 67 hours of your life a year. People who use folders take MORE time to find stuff compared to searching & are no more accurate in finding what they want.
86
595
2K
2
1
10