[fvc-wat-disc] monthly meeting next Thursday
Peter Croves
petercroves at gmail.com
Thu Jul 23 22:19:25 EDT 2020
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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