Citizens Assembly Blog

San Francisco Chronicle endorses Citizens Assembly proposal

Summary: San Francisco Chronicle endorses Citizens Assembly proposal

Publication: San Francisco Chronicle
Title: Where politicians dare to tread
Date: June 18, 2006
By: Editorial

For the editorial, click here.

GOV. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Year of Reform" came and went without any discernible change to the status quo in 2005. The state Legislature remains unduly polarized, captive to special interests and unwilling to take on many of the most complex and daunting problems facing California.

Schwarzenegger's "reform" effort morphed into a piecemeal package of worthy (independent redistricting), seriously flawed (a rigid budget formula) and transparently politically motivated (restrictions on union fundraising) measures that were all shot down by voters in November. There were two overriding messages from the electorate. One was disenchantment with Schwarzenegger and his "I-am-king'' bravado of the moment. The other was a frustration that voters were being asked, yet again, to address issues that should be resolved in Sacramento.

So, what will it take to produce a Legislature that will do its job?

Let's start here:

-- Politicians should not be drawing their own district boundaries, shielding themselves from competitive elections. The result is a more polarized and less accountable Legislature. California should follow the
lead of other states where redistricting is handled independent of the self-interested legislators.

-- The voter-approved term limits of 1990 are too draconian: six years in the Assembly, eight in the Senate. These limits, which have been valuable in increasing diversity in the Capitol, should be loosened a bit to allow legislators time to develop expertise in complex issues -- as well as a greater motivation to focus beyond the concern of the moment.

-- The June 6 primary was a case study in what is wrong with our campaign-finance system: The special interests spent wildly and shot recklessly; the candidates made a mockery of spending limits in various ways and the public was subjected to a mud fest that depressed voter turnout to near-record lows. Candidates and would-be candidates at all levels complain that the fiscal demands of modern politics are adding to the length, stress -- and unseemliness -- of running for public office. It's time to overhaul the
system so that candidates spend less time raising money and more time talking with voters.

What are the chances that these, or any other, significant reforms will emerge from Sacramento?

"Slim to none," said Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla, a Pittsburg Democrat, who will be termed out of office this year.

Canciamilla said he came to Sacramento six years ago "naively thinking" that legislators could work together to solve problems. It wasn't long before his inclination for bipartisan outreach made him a pariah among his fellow Democrats. Too often, he said, legislators' response to a crisis is to make sure "the other guy got the blame."

Assemblyman Keith Richman, a Republican doctor from Northridge, is equally pessimistic about what he saw in his six years in the Capitol.

"Our representative democracy is broken," is Richman's diagnosis.

Canciamilla and Richman are promoting a measure that might allow these reforms to incubate without interference from a status quo that has proved remarkably adept at fending off change. Their bill (ACA28) would commission a "citizens' assembly" to develop a reform package that would go directly to the ballot. It is modeled after a citizens' assembly in British Columbia that proposed a system of "proportional representation" in elections; itfell just short of the 60-percent threshold needed for passage in May 2005.
It will be on the ballot again this year.

Here's how the California plan would work:

-- Two representatives, one man and one woman, would be selected from arandomly drawn pool in each of the 80 Assembly districts. Elected officials,their relatives, lobbyists, campaign consultants and other politicos would be ineligible.

-- Members of the citizens' assembly would be paid $1,000, plus travel expenses, for their part-time, yearlong exploration of the state's electoral and campaign processes. They would then develop a package of reforms - or not, in the unlikely event they find nothing wrong with the system -- to send to the Legislature, which could offer its comments, but could not change any of the citizens' recommendations.

-- The citizens' recommendations would then be put to a statewide vote.

How has the status quo in the Democrat-controlled Assembly reacted to the Canciamilla-Richman citizens'-assembly plan?

You guessed it. The Assembly leadership has not even allowed a public hearing on ACA28. Meanwhile, bills to accomplish some of these reforms -- independent redistricting, public financing of elections -- are barely
showing signs of life.

"The Legislature is not going to reform itself," Canciamilla said.

Assuming ACA28 goes nowhere this year -- which is what Richman and Canciamilla are betting -- advocates of a citizens' assembly are contemplating a signature-gathering campaign to put the concept on the ballot in 2008.

There is no guarantee that a citizens' assembly will produce the electoral reforms this state so desperately needs -- or even if it does, that the special interests and major parties will not ambush them at the polls -- but it's worth a try. It's outrageous and patently undemocratic that the ruling Democrats in the Assembly will not allow Richman and Canciamilla the courtesy of a public hearing on ACA28.

It's also instructive as to why this populist revolt is necessary.

---------------------------------------------

Express your views

For more information on the citizens' assembly proposal, and the main group behind it, the New America Foundation, go to www.NewAmerica.net/political reform.

You can express your views about the Assembly leadership's failure to hold a hearing on ACA28 by sending an e-mail to Speaker Fabian Núñez at [email protected].

An update on the Netherlands citizens assembly

A lot has been going on with the Netherlands citizens assembly. The learning phase is now over and it has moved on to its consultation phase. Here’s a report from David Hulsius, one of its members.

June 5, 2006

Hi Jim,

Here's another update from the Dutch citizens assembly! It's a bit long, but a lot has happened since my last e-mail. Feel free to shorten it.

In my last update I told about the first two weekends in which we were introduced to the world of electoral systems. We have done a lot since that weekend, so there's quite a lot of news.

In our third weekend (21/22 April) we looked at pros and cons and the effects of the different types of electoral systems on for instance proportionality, representation of women and minorities, stability of the government, activities of MPs, etc. The subject thus came closer to our central topic: what is it that we find most important in our electoral system and what might happen if we should change elements of that system. Also, during this weekend we prepared for the regional meetings that are currently being held all over the country. We decided on which topics we thought are important to be discussed during these meetings. Main topics were voter's influence on coalition forming, representation of minorities and women, and the role of parties versus individual MPs. Generally, this weekend was seen as very informative and useful by the members.

The next weekend (12/13 May) dealt much less with electoral systems. Instead we looked at the role of ourselves, the individual members, within the assembly process for the months to come. Chairmen, vice-chairmen and spokesmen for the subgroups were appointed as well as a media committee. Although much time, to the annoyance of some members, was spent on electing these people and thinking about one's role in the assembly we also looked at the content: debating positions were put forward in order to generate discussions during the regional meetings. A poll held in the previous weekend revealed some opinions in the assembly: The majority of the assembly does not want to change anything about the proportionality of our current system, the existence of coalition governments and the current high turnouts at elections (of around 80%). Some things the majority thinks should be changed are the number of parties in parliament, the way coalitions and the cabinet are formed, and the role of MPs.

Apart from the assembly weekends, assembly members can attend 1-day courses on dealing with media, using computers, training of debating skills, etc.

As the weekend descriptions show, we have now moved from a learning phase to a consultation phase. As we now know a lot about electoral systems, it is time to ask other people what they feel is important. This consultation phase consists mainly of 12 regional meetings that are currently being held in places all over the Netherlands. It is supported by a website, www.nederlandpraatmee.nl. In the last 2 months a media campaign was launched drawing attention to the existence of the assembly and to the regional meetings. The campaign consists of TV ads, billboards on train stations and large ads in both nationwide newspapers as well as some regional papers. Several members of the assembly have also contacted local media and councils in order to draw attention to the meetings.

The first meetings (in Amsterdam, Groningen and Rotterdam) were successful, although less people turned up than hoped for. During the meetings vivid debates were held. While a large part of the audience was enthusiastic about the assembly and seems to agree that it reflects Dutch society well, much less people feel that it is the electoral system itself that causes problems. There are also some doubts whether parliament will seriously look at the assembly's advisory report. Many people complained about the activities and attitudes of MPs, the power of parties and about how coalitions are formed. That some of these issues can in fact be affected by the electoral system did not occur to everybody. However, it also stresses that reform of the electoral system alone is not a universal remedy in order to solve perceived problems in Dutch politics. As 9 more meetings are planned I cannot draw any conclusions yet, but hearing the opinions of other Dutchmen sure is interesting and useful.

During the next weekend (9/10 June) we will not only be looking back at the first regional meetings, but we will also start discussing extensively what we personally feel should or should not be changed in our electoral system. British political studies author David Farrel, whose book on electoral systems we have read as "homework", will also be visiting. Furthermore, we will look at previous reform proposals that have been done in the past in the Netherlands. We also face the challenge that we will have to think about how the assembly will reach consensus on a final advise in October/November and how we are going to get there.

The assembly still seems very motivated and I feel the assembly is also functioning quite well. I do believe we will be able to come up with an inspired, well-founded advisory report. Unfortunately, the assembly has not received very much attention in national media yet. While assembly members themselves have successfully contacted local newspapers and radio stations, nationwide papers and tv stations have reported very little on the assembly. I think there are two major reasons for this. First of all, the media campaign was only fully launched after the learning-phase was finished, resulting in the fact that few people knew about our activities. Secondly, some media have, incorrectly l think, considered the assembly to be a "toy" of Minister of Government Reform Pechtold as his party D66, being a minor party in the coalition, has seen few of its plans executed so far this term. This is a shame as we are independent from Minister Pechtold and also because I think the very success of the assembly is largely dependent on its reputation and its acceptance by the public. Thus, media attention is in my view essential. Hopefully we can generate more media attention in the coming weeks and months!

Once again, a lot of text, but hopefully informative!

Kind regards

David Hulshuis

New Politics Network Press Release: MPs say elections none of public's business

Publication: Press Release, New Politics Network (U.K.)
Title: MPs say elections none of public's business
Date: June 15, 2006

For the press release, click here.

The New Politics Network has criticised the House of Commons for voting against a proposal that would give the public greater say over the electoral system.

The Parliamentary and Local Elections (Choice of Electoral Systems) Bill would ensure that a referendum would be held on the electoral system at a local or national level if a significant number of citizens petitioned for one to be held. The alternative system proposed in the referendum would be chosen by the petitioners or could alternatively be determined by a Citizens Assembly of randomly chosen members of the public. The Bill was tabled by David Chaytor MP as a Ten Minute Rule Bill yesterday (13 June) and was rejected by the Commons (Ayes 72, Noes 168 - majority 94).

Commenting on the Commons vote, Parliamentary and Policy Officer Alexandra Runswick said:

"This Bill asserts a basic principle: that the electoral system should exist to suit the people not the politicians. By rejecting this Bill, MPs have brazenly asserted that it is none of the public's business.

"Andrew Turner MP's criticisms of the Bill were laughable. If he believes that electoral reform is only of interest to 'political anoraks' then why is he so afraid to put his theory to the test? Polling suggests that a majority of the public favour electoral reform.

"In law we already allow the public to call for a referendum on the creation of elected Mayors and parish councils; this Bill simply expands that principle. If the majority of MPs wish to continue to block such initiatives, they will have to come up with better arguments than the ones we heard yesterday."

Press Release: George Thomson, Chair of the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform Media Availability

Publication: Press Release
Title: George Thomson, Chair of the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform Media Availability
Date: June 15, 2006

For the press release, click here.

Attention News/Assignment Editors:

George Thomson, Chair of the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform Media Availability

TORONTO, June 15 /CNW/ - George Thomson, Chair of the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, will be available to media at Ottawa meetings hosted by Elections Ontario to randomly select individuals to sit as Citizens' Assembly members. These Assembly members would represent the Ottawa area ridings of Ottawa Centre, Ottawa South, Ottawa-Vanier, Ottawa West-Nepean, Ottawa-Orleans, Lanark-Carleton, Nepean-Carleton, Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke.

DATE: Saturday June 17, 2006

MEETING START: 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

AVAILABILITY: 11:15 a.m. and 2:45 p.m.

LOCATION: Canadian Salon
Embassy West Hotel & Conference Centre
1400 Carling Avenue
Ottawa ON

www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca

For further information: Barry Koen-Butt, Executive Lead,
Communications, Ontario Citizens' Assembly Secretariat, (416) 325-0752, (416)
993-2405

U.K.'s British Assembly bill goes down to defeat 168 votes to 72

Publication: Press Association Newsfile
Title: VOTING SYSTEM REFERENDUM CALL REJECTED
Date: June 14, 2006
By: Ben Padley

For the article, click here.

Publication: 24Dash.com
Title: Despite 'great local vote swindle' Commons MPs reject fairer voting system
Date: June 14, 2006
By: Keith Hall

For the article, click here.

Press Release: George Thomson, Chair of the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform Media Availability

Publication: News Release
Title: George Thomson, Chair of the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform Media Availability
Date: June 14, 2006

For the article, click here.

Attention News/Assignment Editors:

Media Advisory - George Thomson, Chair of the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform Media Availability

TORONTO, June 14 /CNW/ - George Thomson, Chair of the Ontario Citizens'
Assembly on Electoral Reform, will be available to media covering Elections
Ontario meetings to randomly select individuals who will sit as Citizens'
Assembly members.

DATE: Thursday June 15, 2006

MEETING START: 7:00 p.m.

AVAILABILITY: 6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Adironback Room
Ramada Inn & Conference Centre
805 Brookdale Avenue
Cornwall ON

www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca

For further information: Barry Koen-Butt, Executive Lead,
Communications, Ontario Citizens' Assembly Secretariat, (416) 325-0752, (416)
993-2405

Alberta’s Liberal party endorses a citizen’s assembly

Publication: The Calgary Herald (Alberta)
Title: Lively Liberals jump on democratic renewal, p. A4
Date: June 12, 2006
By: Tom Olsen, Calgary Herald

For the article, click here.

Press Release: Five Kitchener Area Residents selected for the Ontario Citizens' Assembly

Publication: Press Release
Title: Five Kitchener Area Residents selected for the Ontario Citizens' Assembly
Date: June 12, 2006

For the press release, click here.

For another related press release, click here.

Attention News Editors:

Five Kitchener Area Residents selected for the Ontario Citizens' Assembly

TORONTO, June 12 /CNW/ - Five members of Ontario's first-ever Citizens' Assembly were selected at a meeting in Kitchener on Saturday.

"I feel passionate about my country, my province and my community. I feel like I can contribute to this process," said Ron Vankoughnett, representing the riding of Kitchener-Waterloo, who was randomly selected by Elections Ontario to join the historic Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform. The Assembly will consider various electoral systems from around the world, listen to, and consult with fellow citizens before recommending whether Ontario should retain its current electoral system or adopt a new one.

"These individuals will participate in Ontario's most ambitious exercise in direct democracy," said George Thomson, Chair of the Assembly, "They will explore questions that are fundamental to Ontario's electoral system. This is the first time Ontario has engaged citizens from across the province in this way and on a topic of such significance to our democratic process."

In total five Assembly members were selected at a meeting held in Kitchener by Elections Ontario this weekend including: Elsayed Abdelaal (Guelph-Wellington), Jerrold Labrecque (Cambridge), Bill Ritz (Waterloo-Wellington), Marcia Soeda (Kitchener Centre) and Ron Vankoughnett (Kitchener-Waterloo).

The Citizens' Assembly will begin meeting in September 2006 and will deliver its recommendations to the government by May 15, 2007. In the event that the Assembly recommends a change to Ontario's electoral system, the recommendation will be put to all citizens in a referendum within the current government's mandate.

"Other provinces and countries have been reviewing their electoral systems, but only a few, like British Columbia and the Netherlands, have given citizens such a direct role in the process. The Ontario Citizens' Assembly is independent of government. It gives citizens - not politicians or experts - the power to decide what our votes should mean when we elect Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs)", said Thomson. "All Ontarians have a stake in this process and I urge them to start thinking about what electoral system would best suit their needs."

Elections Ontario used a process of random representative sampling to select Citizens' Assembly members. Approximately 124,000 letters were mailed out to Ontarians in mid-April, asking them to respond if they were interested in serving on the Assembly. Of the approximately 12,000 people who responded, 1,200 were invited to attend selection meetings where one Assembly member per riding is selected by ballot.

There are nine selection meetings remaining which will be held in eight cities through the month of June. Elections Ontario will present its list of 103 Assembly members to Dr. Marie Bountrogianni, Minister of Democratic Renewal on or before July 14, 2006. For more information on the Citizens' Assembly, visit: www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca.

For further information: Media Contacts: For information about the Citizens' Assembly please contact: Barry Koen-Butt, Executive Lead, Communications, Ontario Citizens' Assembly Secretariat, (416) 325-0752, (416)993-2405; For information about the selection process and meetings please contact: Paula Chung, Communications Officer, Elections Ontario, (416)212-6186, 1-866-252-2152

Press Release: Elections Ontario to select Citizens' Assembly members in Peterborough, Kitchener, Kingston and Owen Sound this weekend

Publication: Press Release
Title: Elections Ontario to select Citizens' Assembly members in Peterborough, Kitchener, Kingston and Owen Sound this weekend
Date: June 9, 2006

For the Press Release, click here.

Attention News/Assignment Editors:

Media Advisory - Elections Ontario to select Citizens' Assembly members in Peterborough, Kitchener, Kingston and Owen Sound this weekend

TORONTO, June 9 /CNW/ - Media are invited to attend selection meetings hosted by Elections Ontario for the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform. This coming weekend, selection meetings will be held in Peterborough, Kingston, Kitchener and Owen Sound to select members from 15 electoral
districts.

For each electoral district, Elections Ontario has randomly chosen 11-13 electors to attend a selection meeting. At the meeting, a representative from the Citizens' Assembly will give a presentation on the Assembly's work and the role of the members to help electors make an informed decision about their participation. At the close of each meeting, Elections Ontario will randomly draw the name of one member from each electoral district to form the Citizens' Assembly.

In total, Elections Ontario will hold 29 meetings in 17 cities to select 103 members to participate in the Assembly. When the selection process is complete, the Chief Election Officer will present the list of names of the 103 members and their alternates to the Minister Responsible for Democratic Renewal, on or before July 14, 2006.

Dates and times of this weekend's meetings are listed below. The complete schedule can be found on Elections Ontario's web site at www.electionsontario.on.ca. Media are invited to observe the meetings and will have the opportunity to obtain further information when the meeting has concluded.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Location Time Electoral Districts
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, June 10, 2006
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holiday Inn 9:30 a.m. - Northumberland
Peterborough 11:00 a.m Peterborough
Waterfront Haliburton-
150 George Street North Victoria-Brock
Peterborough
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radisson Hotel 9:30 a.m. - Cambridge
Kitchener 11:00 a.m. Guelph-Wellington
2960 King Street East Kitchener Centre
Kitchener Kitchener-Waterloo
Waterloo-Wellington
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, June 11, 2006
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holiday Inn 1:00 p.m. - Hastings-Frontenac-
Kingston Waterfront Hotel 2:30 p.m. Lennox and Addington
2 Princess Street Kingston and the
Kingston Islands
Prince Edward-
Hastings
Leeds-Grenville
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Days Inn & Conference 1:00 p.m. - Bruce-Grey-
Centre 2:30 p.m. Owen Sound
950 Sixth Street East Dufferin-Peel-
Owen Sound Wellington-Grey
Huron-Bruce
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brockville Recorder & Times gives a local news angle on selection of Ontario's citizens assembly

Publication: Brockville Recorder & Times
Title: Local women have a chance to redraw electoral system, p. A1
Date: June 8, 2006
By: RONALD ZAJAC, Staff Writer

About a dozen women from Leeds-Grenville will attend a meeting in Cornwall next week for a chance to be included in the group that might redraw Ontario's electoral system.

The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, a $6-million effort spearheaded by the provincial government, aims to examine the system governing how Ontarians elect representatives to Queen's Park.

Its mandate is to assess the current system and others around the world, then "make a recommendation as to whether we should retain the current system or adopt a new one," said Barry Koen-Butt, spokesman for the secretariat appointed to assist the assembly once it is chosen.

The McGuinty government has already committed to taking the assembly's final recommendation, due next May, and putting it to a vote in a referendum during its current term, Koen-Butt said Wednesday in a telephone interview from Toronto.

That means, should the panel recommend changing the system and that recommendation get the backing of the voters, the planned 2007 provincial election will follow the new system, he said.

Discussions of the electoral reform effort have centred on the possibility of Ontario switching to a system of proportional representation. But Koen-Butt said there is more to the assembly's job than a choice between PR and the current first-past-the-post system.

"They could come up - and probably should come up - with a made-in-Ontario solution," he said.
Elections Ontario is looking after the selection process for the assembly, which will be made up of 103 randomly-selected citizens - one for each riding.

To ensure gender balance, 52 of the members will be women and 51 men.
At least one member will be Aboriginal.

George Thomson, of Kingston, a former senior civil servant and family court judge, has already been appointed the assembly's chairman by Ontario Lieutenant-Governor James Bartleman, making it an even 52 for each gender.

In the first step of the subsequent selection process, Elections Ontario chose nearly 124,000 people at random from the province's Permanent Register of Electors and sent them letters asking if they were interested, said Elections Ontario spokesman Paula Chung.

That resulted in about 12,000 positive responses, which were again whittled down at random to get 11 to 13 candidates per riding, she said.

In order to ensure the gender balance, ridings were designated male or female, to ensure the selected members and their alternates were of the same gender, said Chung.

Koen-Butt confirmed Leeds-Grenville has been designated female, meaning all the candidates are women.
The Leeds-Grenville candidates will head to a regional selection meeting at Cornwall's Ramada Inn at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 15, where members and alternates from this riding, Stormont-Dundas-Charlottenburgh and Glengarry-Prescott-Russell will be selected, again in a random draw. Other selection meetings will take place across the province until June 25.

The neighbouring ridings of Stormont-Dundas-Charlottenburgh and Lanark-Carleton have both been designated male, said Koen-Butt.

Lanark-Carleton's representative will be chosen, along with those of three other Ottawa or Ottawa-area ridings, at an Ottawa hotel on Saturday afternoon.

Elections Ontario is not disclosing the names on the lists until after the meetings, said Chung.
The full assembly will meet in Toronto on September 9, said Koen-Butt, adding they will meet about every second weekend at a York University campus from September through November to be brought up to speed on Ontario's and other electoral systems by Jonathan Rose, an associate professor of political science at Queen's University.

After that, from November through February, they will hold public consultations, allowing people to make submissions in different formats, including over the Internet.

Assembly members will then deliberate until they produce a final report due on or before May 15, 2007.
The assembly's meetings will be open to the public, said Koen-Butt.

The government is now drafting legislation to put the assembly's recommendation, should it call for change, to a provincewide referendum in the current mandate, he said.

That would mean a referendum next year, since the government has also committed to a fixed provincial election date in October 2007.

The province has set aside $6 million for the entire process, covering such things as staff salaries, assembly members' honorariums and expenses and the assembly's website, at www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca, said Koen-Butt.

The random selection system ensures the process remains fundamentally democratic, empowering ordinary citizens, said Koen-Butt.

"This is power for the people," he said. "This is not a Royal commission. This is not a panel of experts."