Sorted: Civic lotteries and the Future of Public Participation
Oliver Dowlen
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In 2004 and 2006, two major democratic experiments took place in Canada's first and third most populous provinces. Two years later, this pamphlet explores the impact of Ontario and British Columbia's first Citizens' Assemblies by examining the premise on which each assembly was based: the use of sortition, or a "civic lottery" to select citizens to participate in a binding public process.
By examining the use of civic lotteries through history - a tradition that remains at the core of our judicial system - this pamphlet explains how sortition can lower the barrier to political participation and extend a meaningful new franchise to citizens wishing to serve their communities.
Against a backdrop of institutional and political stagnation, Sorted: Civic lotteries and the future of public participation makes the case for reviving a neglected democratic tradition - one that works in partnership with existing institutions and elected legislators to create a more powerful and direct role for citizens.
Engaging with Impact: Targets and indicators for evaluating effective community engagement by Ontario's LHINs
A citizens' report
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We know that community engagement matters - especially to our public health system. As Ontario's Local Health Integration Networks strengthen their focus on community engagement, what are the common benchmarks and commitments that citizens think matter most?
Engaging with Impact addresses the challenge of evaluating engagement and proposes a series of indicators that can be used to assess performance and develop a culture of engagement across Ontario's public health system.
This report features:
A special essay on the challenge of evaluating deliberative engagement by Professor John Gastil;
Two essays comparing the commitment of Canadian and UK health systems to greater community engagement by the Wellesley Institute and the British think tank, Involve;
Interviews with the directors responsible for community engagement in the North West, Central and South East LHINs;
An account of three Citizens' Workshops that provide the basis for the recommendations in this report;
An engagement scorecard for Ontario's LHINs which proposes principles, recommendations and indicators.
The Politics of Participation: Learning from Canada's Centennial Year
Helen Davies
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Canada's Centennial was a remarkable achievement, with public participation far exceeding official expectations. As Helen Davies explains, this success was largely due to the philosophy of early Centennial champions like John Kidd, and a Centennial Commission that resisted the temptation to assert one vision of Canada or its identity. Instead, supported by a spine of national programs, Canadians were encouraged to design their own Centennial celebrations - and it didn't take long before Canadians responded, creating thousands of community initiatives across the country.
In this first, long-overdue study of Canada's Centennial year, Davies explores how public servants and citizens designed events and programs to bolster national pride, celebrate learning, support national unity and encourage public participation. Her analysis, which will be welcomed by anyone looking to better understand the craft of staging major public events and anniversaries, examines official reports and speeches as well as public events and many personal accounts. In addition to drawing on archival material, Davies also addresses the role of nationalism, identity and public spectacle in creating a sense of civic imagination and confidence.
With Canada's next major anniversary, the Sesquicentennial in 2017 now on the horizon, the Politics of Participation is essential reading for government officials, community leaders and corporate executives wanting to understand the role they can play as we again look back and look forward and assert our ambitions for an even better Canada.
Public Priorities for Ontario's Health System.
Report of the Citizens' Reference Panel on Ontario Health Services
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As calls grow for major reforms to Ontario's health system, PwC, one of Canada's leading professional services, decided to take a new and original approach to listening to the one constituency whose voice can sometimes be hard to hear: the Ontario public. PwC approached MASS LBP to convene the first Citizens' Reference Panel on Ontario Health Services.
For three weekends, twenty-eight randomly-selected Ontarians learned about the province's health care system, before proposing recommendations to help ensure that high-quality and publicly funded care is available to future generations. The aim of this demonstration project was to show what an "informed, adult conversation" about our health system might look like and how citizens can play an important role in shaping provincial health policy. This report contains more than 50 recommendations over 13 priority areas and has been praised by the Globe and Mail for its clarity.
Northumberland Hills Hospital Citizens' Advisory Panel on Health Service Prioritization Final Report
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One of the most ambitious and thorough public consultation processes conducted by an Ontario hospital, the NHH Citizens' Advisory Panel was charged with identifying more than $1 million in savings and met on five Saturdays throughout the fall to determine the hospital’s core services.
Panelists heard more than a dozen presentations by stakeholders, medical staff, local citizens and outside experts, and ultimately evaluated the work and value of thirty-one health services provided by NHH.
Members of the CAP were selected by civic lottery. 5,000 invitations were mailed to randomly selected households throughout west Northumberland. One in twelve households received a letter and an invitation to nominate one member of their household to volunteer to serve on the Panel. Current staff, volunteers or physicians with privileges at NHH were not eligible to participate.
The Citizens' Priorities: Halton Region's 2011-2014 Action Plan
and Citizens' Panel Report
Download The Citizens' Priorities - Halton Region's 2011-2014 Action Plan
Download the Report of the Halton Region Citizens' Reference Panel
Each term, the newly elected Halton Regional Council develops a strategic work plan that sets out its priorities and establishes its strategic direction for its term of office. The plan provides a framework for decisions that need to be made relating to the Region's budget and how it delivers important programs and services.
Committed to involving the public in decisions that affect their everyday lives, Halton Region pioneered a thorough public consultation process to seek input in developing their new strategic work plan. A key part of this consultation process was the Halton Region Citizens' Reference Panel. The Panel brought together 36 randomly selected Halton residents to learn about the Region's programs and services and make informed recommendations for Council to consider.
The Citizens' Priorities - Halton Region's 2011-2014 Action Plan reflects the tremendous work and input of the Halton Citizens' Reference Panel and broader community, and demonstrates the Council's commitment to moving forward with their recommendations. Impressively designed and easy to read, the new plan also includes an annual report card so residents can clearly see what the Region has achieved each year. This plan was developed by Halton Region with input from the final report of the Citizens' Reference Panel. Both documents are available to download.The Ottawa Hospital's Cancer Program Transformation:
Final Report from the Patients' Reference Panel
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Download now (French)
In January 2010, The Ottawa Hospital's Cancer Program (TOHCP) embarked on an innovative and largely unprecedented effort to engage 36 patients and family members in a frank discussion about improving patient experience and adopting a more patient- and family-centred approach to care.
The Patients' Reference Panel was designed to combine the direct experience of the Panel members with a balanced and detailed view of the operational abilities of the Cancer Program. The process also drew together doctors, nurses and other hospital staff in a broader conversation to identify shared priorities that could have the most dramatic effect on the experience of patients and family members.
Ultimately, the Panel put forward 108 recommendations for a more patient- and family-centered approach categorized according to the four stages of cancer care. Their list of recommendations and shared priorities appear in this report.
Mississauga Halton Local Health Integration Network: Citizens' Reference Panel on Local Health Priorities Final Report
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Every three years, the LHIN must create an Integrated Health Service Plan - a roadmap for priorities and actions for the LHIN for the next three-year period. The plan in effect now was the first, so it started with a blank slate. When it came time to draft the plan for 2010-2013, the LHIN saw an opportunity to learn from and build on the first plan. It was also a chance to hear what the citizens of Mississauga Halton had to say about the future of their health care system before updating the plan.
To get the best advice possible, the LHIN decided to go beyond traditional ways of engaging with the community. First, the LHIN did an "environmental scan" - gathering information to find out where things stand now. Then, the LHIN Board of Directors and staff thought about what they wanted to find out from the people of Mississauga Halton. Next, they put those questions to stakeholder groups in the community at a series of events over the course of two months and heard their opinions. The process culminated in the Citizens' Reference Panel on Local Health Priorities. The Citizens' Reference Panel was created from a representative group of citizens, chosen at random. They met for two full days, learned about health care in the LHIN, talked to one another in a series of focused discussions, and reached consensus about some important health care priorities. In the end, they gave the LHIN their ideas and recommendations to help shape the new Integrated Health Service Plan.
This report describes what happened during those two days and the ideas and recommendations of the participants