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Highlights from the First Report of the Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform
On April 9, 2025, the BC Legislative Assembly established a Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform tasked with examining and making recommendations related to democratic engagement, voter participation, and electoral reform.
Representing 911吃瓜's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Robin Prest delivered one of the 186 presentations the committee received through their public hearing process. The Committee's findings were further informed by 801 written submissions.
In November, the Special Committee published its first report, , with 36 recommendations related to democratic engagement, voter participation and electoral reform.
The Centre for Dialogue was among multiple organizations and individuals who advocated for expanding opportunities for democratic participation beyond the ballot box. The Special Committee鈥檚 Report highlights how:
鈥淭he Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue recommended developing a robust strategy to mainstream public participation in government decision-making. The Centre indicated that this could include fostering dialogue to reduce polarization on issues such as forestry, conservation, wildfires, toxic drug supply, and public health.鈥� (p. 10).
Several public submissions specifically recommended the use of deliberative 鈥渕ini-publics鈥� that bring together a demographically representative group, selected by civic lottery, to go through a learning process and develop recommendations around complex policy issues. As the report describes:
鈥淭he Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue noted that the BC Citizens鈥� Assembly on Electoral Reform, formed in 2003, was the first ever citizens鈥� assembly globally. The Centre stated that the mandate of a new citizens鈥� assembly could be to make recommendations to enhance democratic renewal and resilience more broadly or to make targeted recommendations to resolve tensions or trade-offs for a specific law or issue. The Centre highlighted that there must be explicit commitment from government to respond to an assembly鈥檚 recommendations.鈥� (p. 11)
In light of these recommendations, the Special Committee鈥檚 recommendations to the Legislative Assembly include:
- The establishment of a non-partisan centre of excellence for democratic engagement, in collaboration with experts, to develop resources that support local engagement, public learning, and consultation (Recommendation 1);
- Enhancing public consultation processes by ensuring proactive and early engagement, providing transparent and responsive communication, releasing results in a timely manner, leveraging technology, and empowering youth (Recommendation 3); and
- That the provincial government consider establishing a people鈥檚 assembly to examine and make recommendations on the model for electing Members of the Legislative Assembly (Recommendation 35).
In the section on Information Environment, the Committee recommends that BC join the Open Government Partnership (Recommendation 8), citing how:
鈥淭he Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue spoke to the Committee about the Open Government Partnership, which provides a global hub for governments to advance their commitments to accountability, transparency, and civic participation. The Centre recommended BC join Quebec and the Government of Canada as members and build on existing assets such as the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to advance work on accountability, transparency, and civic participation.鈥� (p. 16)
The Centre for Dialogue鈥檚 submission echoed a number of other organizations in advocating for 鈥渘ext generation鈥� civic education that fosters students鈥� sense of agency and confidence as problem solvers. In this area, the Committee鈥檚 report explicitly mentioned a presentation by our colleague, Dr. Brenda Morrison, from 911吃瓜鈥� Centre for Restorative Justice, who 鈥渞ecommended funding universities and civil society organizations to train educators about methods that promote active citizenship in young people鈥� (p. 19).
The Committee ultimately recommended strengthening civic education in the K-12 school system with an emphasis on applied learning, and incorporating best practices for media literacy, critical thinking and misinformation education in BC schools (Recommendations 10 and 11). Recommendation 12 proposes supporting professional development opportunities for K-12 educators and post-secondary instructors to enable this goal.
The Committee also made direct reference to shared advocacy by the Centre for Dialogue and other groups around funding for democracy initiatives:
鈥淭he Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Democratic Engagement Exchange, Apathy is Boring, and North Shore Community Resources recommended creating a BC Fund for Democratic Resilience and Renewal. Multiple organizations stated that the fund could bolster democratic participation by funding democratic innovation, civic education, inclusive participation, community-led engagement, and outreach to new and infrequent voters.鈥�
