the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform (Canada)

The Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform in Canada was a group of randomly selected citizens convened to study and recommend changes to the country’s voting system. Their goal was to explore ways to make elections more fair, accurate, and representative of voters’ preferences. Over months, they considered options like proportional representation and held public consultations. In 2004, they proposed adopting a mixed-member proportional system, but the recommendation was ultimately not implemented by the government. The assembly demonstrated a novel democratic process where ordinary citizens, rather than politicians, played a key role in shaping electoral reform.