The FAQ Page

Frequently Asked Questions

Table of contents

• Frequently Asked Questions
  • What is a wiki?
  • What is this site for?
  • Who is involved?
  • What's the topic?
  • How does this work?
  • What can i do here?
  • What are the rules?

What is a wiki?

A wiki is a freely-editable website that anyone (within certain parameters) can help create and add topics from custom essays. The most common example is Wikipedia, an encyclopedia that has been assembled by thousands of unpaid contributors over the past several years. There's some information on how to use this wiki's editing tools here, but it's pretty simple — click the little icon that looks like a piece of paper and pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the page you want to edit, and start typing :-)

What is this site for?

We want you to help us send the government a message about what you think federal policy should look like, and the principles it should be based on. But we don't just want you to give us your comments (although that's fine too, and you can do that in the forum). We'd also like you to use the wiki's built-in tools to help us create a series of positions on policy issues, which we can pass on to the government as a tangible sign of what you think must be done. Although we are asking for you to rate the positions and rank? the issues you care about, however, it is not meant to be a simple popularity contest

Who is involved?

The Globe and Mail's partner on this project is the Dominion Institute, one of the country's leading institutions concerned with public policy and citizen involvement. They in turn are sponsored by The Aurea Foundation, a charitable entity founded by Peter and Melanie Munk to support the study and development of public policy.

What's the topic?

The topic is guided by a coice of current Feature Issues. Given the state of the Canadian economy, and the fact that one of the government's first initiatives — and the one that has been the source of much controversy — will be the federal budget, we thought we would start things off with a discussion about what approach the Harper government should take towards the economy. Should there be tax cuts? Fiscal stimulus programs? Tell us what you think.

How does this work?

We've provided some resources and term papers (Resources) to help you arrive at an informed opinion on the topic (if you haven't already), and a couple of expert perspectives to start you off. You can give us your thoughts and opinions in one of a number of ways:

What can i do here?

1) You can rate the proposals from our experts, and from our wise crowd..

2) You can comment in the forum related to that topic.

3) You can create new positions on one or more of the issues. We have a position template? you can use as a starting point.

5) If you want to practice editing a page, use the Sand Box.

6) Report bugs or other problems on the Policy Wiki Bugs page.

What are the rules?

While we encourage everyone and anyone to help in this project, there are some simple ground rules:

1) Anyone who wishes to edit pages, post comments or in the forums willl need to register, we prefer you to use a real name and a valid e-mail address (a password will be emailed to you).

2) Since we are trying to make this a non-partisan effort, and one free of personal attacks, all editing changes, comments and other contributions will be moderated and may be removed if they don't adhere to our Code of Conduct.

The simplest way of describing number 2 is: "Don't be that guy." You know the guy — the one who picks fights for no reason, and calls other people names, and tries to shout louder than everyone else. Don't be that guy. (Note: In this case, we're using the term "guy" to mean commenters of either sex). There are more details on the Code of Conduct page.

3) Rather than rely on rules too much, we promote wiki best practices? and virtues and hope that is enough.