[fvc-wat-disc] monthly meeting next Thursday

Sat Aug 1 15:56:07 EDT 2020

 I can do the 6th.
David

    On Saturday, August 1, 2020, 3:48:38 PM EDT, Mary Jackes <mkj at bell.net> wrote:  

i didn't remember until the meeting was almost half way through.  It was obviously a forgetful night.

 On 2020-08-01 2:24 p.m., Cathy Scott wrote:

 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)

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