[fvc-wat-disc] monthly meeting next Thursday

Cathy Scott cathy.scottfree at gmail.com
Sat Aug 1 14:24:46 EDT 2020


Hi, All,
I am sooo sorry to all of you who tried to get into our meeting on Thursday
evening.
I completely forgot about the meeting and didn't think of it till this
morning.
Should we schedule the meeting for next Thursday, Aug. 6th?
Cathy

On Thu, Jul 30, 2020 at 7:01 PM Peter Croves <petercroves at gmail.com> wrote:

> is meeting on?. i go to the link and  nothing happens and i go to zoom,
> there is no meeting listed
>
> On Thu, Jul 23, 2020 at 10:19 PM Peter Croves <petercroves at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> noted, i should be on hand for meeting
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 23, 2020 at 10:15 PM Jennifer Ross <2jennross at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Cathy.  Meeting sounds great!
>>>
>>> Unfortunately, there's a Green debate at that time and I already said I
>>> was going to it.
>>>
>>> Jenn
>>> Bookkeeping Services
>>> 519-501-2736
>>> No other Western democratic country concentrates as much political power in
>>> the hands of one person as Canada does with her Prime Minister.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Jul 23, 2020 at 10:11 PM Cathy Scott <cathy.scottfree at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi, All,
>>>> Next Thursday, July 30 is our next regular meeting.  The link is
>>>> below.  Please note that the meeting will start at 7:00, which is our usual
>>>> time.  I scheduled the start time on Zoom for 6:30 so I can open the
>>>> meeting a little early, so we don't miss anyone.
>>>>
>>>> The discussion topic on the agenda is:
>>>> 'Selecting replacement candidates when an elected member cannot fulfil
>>>> his/her term'
>>>> *Please advise of any other content for the agenda.*
>>>>
>>>> *Also, here is my synopsis of  the Zoom presentation (July 15th),
>>>> called 'Catching the Deliberative Wave'. (I think others of our group also
>>>> attended this), *
>>>> * This  was the launch of the OECD's report on 'Innovative Citizen
>>>> Participation and New Democratic Institutions'.  The report was a study of
>>>> the use of  deliberative processes (variously called, 'reference panels',
>>>> 'citizens' assemblies', 'citizens' juries', 'planning cells') which have
>>>> been used increasingly worldwide, since the 1980s, to engage citizens in
>>>> developing informed recommendations on an issue, which governing
>>>> authorities then use to develop policies.  *
>>>>
>>>> *Claudian Chwalisz, one of the authors of the report, presented a
>>>> summary of the report:*
>>>>
>>>>    - *the deliberative process is commissioned by a public authority
>>>>    and the deliberating group is randomly selected, and demographically
>>>>    stratified by gender, age, geographic location, economic status, etc.,*
>>>>    - *the study included 289 cases of deliberative process worldwide,
>>>>    40 of which were in Canada, at all levels of government*
>>>>    - *types of issues that were addressed included values-driven
>>>>    dilemnas, long-term problems, etc.  See the graphic in the report, attached
>>>>    below.*
>>>>    - *criteria for a successful process included random/balanced
>>>>    selection of members of the group, sufficient time for the process, clear
>>>>    and specific definition of the issue,  provision of comprehensive
>>>>    information to the group.  THe report has a graphic which shows the
>>>>    complete criteria.*
>>>>    - *benefits of a deliberative process:*
>>>>       - *better policy outcomes*
>>>>       - *greater legitimacy - politicians can say their policies are
>>>>       based on citizens' informed judgements, rather than 'opinions' gathered
>>>>       through conventional means of gathering citizens' feedback, such as
>>>>       townhalls, surveys, etc.*
>>>>       - *enhances public trust*
>>>>       - *signals civic respect and empowers citizens*
>>>>       - *strengthens integrity of governing bodies*
>>>>       - *helps counteract polarization and disinformation*
>>>>    - *discussion of reasons and methods of embedding public
>>>>    deliberation as an institution, as has been done in some countries, such as
>>>>    France.*
>>>>    - *12 different models of deliberative processes are described in
>>>>    the report*
>>>>
>>>> *Claudia's summary was followed by a panel discussion by *
>>>>
>>>>    - *Peter McLeod, from MASS LBP, an organization which designs and
>>>>    conducts deliberative processes for governing authorities, corporations,
>>>>    etc.  He pointed out that 1400 Canadians have been involved in
>>>>    approximately 40 deliberative processes in Canada.  Participants gain a
>>>>    better understanding of the complexity of an issue, and greater empathy for
>>>>    other points of view.  Citizens have an opportunity to engage meaningfully
>>>>    in decision-making, promoting 'inclusive governance', in democracy .  These
>>>>    opportunities improve citizens' 'democratic fitness', by sharing in the
>>>>    privilege to speak for others *
>>>>    - *Leslie Woo, from Metrolinx, the corporation that is planning and
>>>>    building transit expansion in the GTA and surrounding  areas.  Metrolinx
>>>>    has worked with MASS LBP to gather information from citizens, in order to
>>>>    plan for the transit needs in the GTA.  She pointed out that the
>>>>    deliberative process concept needs champions who believe in that better
>>>>    policies result, and who are not afraid of the outcome of  a deliberative
>>>>    process, who can let go of control of the outcome.  *
>>>>    - *Karen Fuller, who is on the 'Open Government Team', which is the
>>>>    outreach and engagement team of the federal government.  SHe pointed out
>>>>    that citizen deliberation is important to policy-makers who are looking for
>>>>    tools to help make complex decisions;  that it is important
>>>>    that people believe in what the government is doing.  Deliberative
>>>>    processes have not been widely used in government - somewhat by Health
>>>>    Canada.  Her team's challenges are to promote this concept within the
>>>>    government, and to move the findings of the OECD report into government
>>>>    practice, by  briefing senior management;  justifying the concept of
>>>>    deliberative process,  to garner support for implementing it.  See chapter
>>>>    3 of the report regarding increasing trends toward deliberative process,
>>>>    and chapter 5 regarding principles.  She finds this information useful in
>>>>    briefing public servants, since they are inclined to want to ground things
>>>>    in tenets and principles.*
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *I am attaching the  'Highlights' of the OECD report - see below. (You
>>>> can also see the whole report, by Googling 'United Nations Democracy Fund',
>>>> but the whole report is 240 pages, or so, and the 'Highlights' document is
>>>> about 48 pages, which is long enough for me!).*
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Here is the link to our meeting next Thursday.
>>>>
>>>> Topic: monthly discussion group meeting
>>>> Time: Jul 30, 2020 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
>>>>
>>>> Join Zoom Meeting
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85093016919?pwd=S1JQcTVWYzZMMXVyS0xBaVlSbG5Bdz09
>>>>
>>>> Meeting ID: 850 9301 6919
>>>> Passcode: 525312
>>>> One tap mobile
>>>> +13462487799,,85093016919#,,,,,,0#,,525312# US (Houston)
>>>> +16468769923,,85093016919#,,,,,,0#,,525312# US (New York)
>>>>
>>>> Dial by your location
>>>>         +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
>>>>         +1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
>>>>         +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
>>>>         +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
>>>>         +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
>>>>         +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
>>>> Meeting ID: 850 9301 6919
>>>> Passcode: 525312
>>>> Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbn71Fgkc0
>>>>
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