One thing I discovered in large institutions—for instance, the University of Manitoba, and I'm sure it's like this in many other universities—is that often we have to bring together a consultative group or program review committee composed of people in the community or stakeholders before we have a program. Sometimes some departments do very well at it, and others do not do as well because people become very complacent and comfortable in their positions.
I have another question, however. If I'm using a government service, how do I know that the actual cost, whenever you get something from some department, whether of a city or a municipality or the federal government...? Sometimes I question how they actually come up with that price: “How did you determine that's the appropriate price?” It might have only taken you five minutes to do, yet you charged me $100, say, for that service.
Is there a way of sharing more information with the citizens who use those services to show the actual breakdown of the cost: “This is what it actually cost us to do it, and this is your cost”, which might be a portion of that? Is there a movement to be more responsive and transparent with citizens?