Why Canada needs to embrace innovations in democracy
According to a recent poll conducted by Ipsos for Global News, Canadians’ top priorities are the cost of living, health care, and housing availability and affordability.
But there seems to be little meaningful policy underway either federally or provincially to adequately tackle these issues. The federal and Ontario governments, for example, have instead rolled out tax breaks and cash rebates.
Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland criticized such policies in her recent resignation from federal cabinet, urging the federal government to eschew “costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.”
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Existing democratic institutions aren’t working to bring the needs and priorities of the public to the ears of decision-makers. How can Canada foster a better connection between public interest and public policy, restoring a culture of government accountability to the public?
There have been attempts to innovate democracy, but they’re sporadic at best. We argue that Canada needs to enshrine democratic innovations in its policy-making institutions to more meaningfully connect citizens and policymakers on an ongoing basis.
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Stronger decision-making
Democratic innovations expand public participation in political decision-making, deepening the role of citizens in governance beyond the act of voting in elections.
Examples include citizens’ assemblies, citizen panels, collaborative governance structures, innovative approaches to consultation, deliberative polls, Indigenous self-governance, referenda and participatory budgeting.
Experts are advocating for innovations that include climate assemblies that can help develop municipal climate policy and hold policymakers to account for its implementation, and tools that apply participatory budgeting principles in the distribution of tax dollars.
Democratic innovations have been used widely in Canada. In our recent open access article in the Canadian Journal of Political Science we gather data from sources including Participedia and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, known as the OECD, and find that there have been more than 100 democratic innovations in Canada over the last 20 years in various jurisdictions and on a variety of topics.
Democratic innovations in Canada by location, jurisdiction and topic.
Canadian Journal of Political Science
We find that while democratic innovations as a whole have increased gradually over time in Canada, the increase is due to the fact that these initiatives are only used once and have little influence over policymakers.
The frequency of democratic innovations in Canada, 2000-2020.
Canadian Journal of Political Science
On the other hand, the trendline for the adoption of democratic innovations that are influential or repeated — that is, those that are more embedded into the policy-making process in a way that’s more meaningful or ongoing — is flat. We argue this is a missed opportunity.
Building, maintaining connections
Although one-off democratic innovations like citizens’ assemblies are excellent approaches for tackling a big issue, more embedded types of innovations could be a powerful tool for maintaining an ongoing connection between public interest and political decision-making.
Innovative approaches to maintaining an ongoing, meaningful connection between people and policymakers are underway. In New Westminster, B.C., a standing citizen body called the Community Advisory Assembly has been convened since January 2024 to January 2025.
These citizen advisers are selected through random sampling to ensure the assembly’s demographic makeup is aligned with the overall population.
Over the last year, members have both given input on policy ideas initiated by New Westminster city council and initiated conversations on their own policy priorities. Notes from these discussions are passed on to council and city staff to consider their incorporation into policymaking.
The Car Free Day street festival in New Westminster, B.C., in July 2023. The city’s Community Advisory Assembly has given citizens a say in public policy issues.
(Shutterstock)
Prioritizing public dialogue
The question is whether the project will live beyond its pilot.
Another similar and hopeful democratic innovation, the City of Toronto’s Planning Review Panel, ran for two terms before it was cancelled. In contrast, both the Paris city council and the state government of Ostbelgien (East Belgium) have convened permanent citizen advisory bodies to work alongside elected officials.
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While public opinion is only one ingredient in government decision-making, ensuring democratic innovations are a standard component of policymaking could go a long way to enshrining public dialogue as a valuable governance tool.
Whether through annual participatory budgeting exercises or a standing citizen advisory body, democratic innovations can make public priorities a key focus of policy and restore government accountability to citizens.
But unless such approaches are adopted for the long term and designed in good faith to give participants an impactful voice, these benefits are unlikely to be realized. Läs mer…