Interesting points all round, and I think it's clear that my question, being open-ended, has a myriad of interpretations and responses. One thing that comes out of all of it is the ability and importance of people to be engaged, and using the internet to do that.

I wonder if it means anything within government that we are at a point where public servants can have a "following" across the country (via blogs, Twitter) and that conversations like this one and on other blogs can occur between citizens, civil servants, and anyone else who wants to get involved. It strikes me that it's sort of like having a constant public forum, rather than one three-hour session once a year or so to discuss issues that matter to people. I'm in Prince George, BC and I know the names and thoughts of people working in Ottawa, and have significantly more understanding of the importance of their jobs-- all thanks to the internet.

On this front, it seems to me that a potential model for "government 2.0" to engage with "citizen 2.0" would be to have online brands, be it a Facebook page, blog, or even a single employees Twitter feed that become de facto gathering places for people interested in various policy points, if for nothing else the exchange of ideas.

Of course, with Joe's comments in mind and a look at the comments on CBC.ca or the Globe and Mail it seems all too likely that this would open itself up to devolution and partisan sniping. Although I would like to add that those sites made the (in my opinion erroneous) decision to let people register under pseudonyms. I notice that Macleans is certainly more civil, and they have the IntenseDebate plugin for comments which, like Disqus on my blog, encourages (or, if you choose to do so, compels) users to log in as "themselves" via a website, Twitter, or Facebook. I think this discourages "trolling" and leads to a more thoughtful debate.

I'm not really sure what my point is and I feel like I'm rambling. I just wanted to point out that I'm mulling over all the points and am hoping they will cohere into something I can share in the future.

Thanks!