Could Citizens’ Assemblies Lead the Way Out of This Moment of Societal Polarization? (funders only) 

Without going as far as replacing elections with lotteries, there is much that democracies can gain from moving more policy-making power into the hands of ordinary citizens, neighbours and community members, who are less subject to the trappings of modern politics. The most prominent form of experimentation in this direction is the creation of Citizens’ Assemblies: demographically representative, randomly selected groups of residents tasked with studying, discussing, and recommending solutions for complex, sometimes controversial policy issues. In Canada, British Columbia hosted the world’s first modern Citizens’ Assembly (2003-2004) on electoral reform, and there has been a recent wave of municipal level Assemblies to address local issues. What is striking is their ability to generate relatively high levels of consensus even against the backdrop of divided communities and aggressive political cultures, leading us to wonder: could Citizens’ Assemblies lead the way out of societal polarization on environmental issues?

Join us for a presentation and Q&A with Aftab Erfan, Executive Director at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue (Simon Fraser University) who will be joined by members of a local Assembly, Paul Toth and Juno Avila-Clark,  to respond to questions. Drawing from both scholarship and lived experiences, the presenters will share highlights of processes and achievements, discuss their potential for making progress on climate and environmental concerns, and explore philanthropic opportunities for funding Citizens’ Assemblies across the country.