In Canada, Europe, citizens’ assemblies point towards more inclusive approach to governance

Quietly and away from the glare of elections in Canada and now the U.K., a new approach to politics is gaining traction. It's a politics without parties, and without much of the rancour that defines national contests. It's also a more modest politics that doesn't trade in boldface names or political dynasties. Fundamentally, it's a politics of citizens that illustrates what can happen when people are offered the opportunity to do more than vote, knock doors or donate, and instead take a seat at the table. Over the past six months, citizens' assemblies have been springing up across Europe. This autumn, French President Emmanuel Macron empanelled 150 randomly selected citizens to advise his government on its climate strategy. In Belgium, a state government has established the first permanent citizens’ commission. The Scottish government has created a 100-member citizens’ assembly on Scotland's future. Copenhagen's city council will consider recommendations from a citizens' assembly to pedestrianize a large swath of its core. Closer to home, the randomly selected members of Toronto's ground-breaking planning review panel will complete their two-year term this month. Much of this activity has been inspired by groups like Australia's new Democracy Foundation, which, over the past decade, have worked to popularize citizen deliberation. But the real breakthrough may have occurred in Ireland in 2016, when the country's constitutional restrictions on reproductive choice were lifted following a decisive referendum triggered by the recommendations of a national citizens’ assembly. The assembly's ability to resolve the political impasse surrounding abortion caught the attention of governments across Europe, each seeking to address intractable issues including the political malaise affecting liberal democracies. But Canada's role in helping to spur this new deliberative wave should not be overlooked. In fact, Canada, which held major citizens' assemblies on electoral reform in B.C. and Ontario in 2004 and 2006, respectively, is seen as a frontrunner credited, in part, with inspiring Ireland's success. Since the first Canadian assemblies, shorter, less costly processes called reference panels have been conducted across the country, advising governments and their agencies on dozens of sensitive issues including privacy regulation, land-use policies, and pharmacare. Much like the larger assemblies, reference panels are comprised of demographically representative, randomly selected residents who volunteer to spend four to six Saturdays learning about complex issues and drafting consensus recommendations that help to shape government policies. Incredibly, since 2008, more than one in 65 Canadian households has received an invitation to take part. To date, some 1,500 Canadians have served, contributing more than 55,000 volunteer hours to deliberative policy-making. As more jurisdictions launch citizens' assemblies, juries, and panels, major studies are also getting underway, with the UN, OECD, and numerous research centres seeking to understand how these processes can be scaled up to address an even wider array of issues, and support the work of elected governments. At their core, these deliberative processes upend many of the assumptions that shape modern politics: that people are too busy or disinterested to engage in complex issues, and that our society is too polarized to find common ground. The success of this bold experiment is not assured. But what's at stake may be no less than a better future for responsible government, as a more inclusive approach to modern democratic governance begins to take shape. Peter MacLeod is the principal of principal of MASS LBP. The Hill Times