It was 20 years ago today…
This is not just the first line of a favourite Beatles song; it also symbolizes the quiet revolution that occurred in 2006. That was the year that began the world’s second modern citizens’ assembly. The Ontario Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform sowed the seeds of a worldwide movement that would blossom into citizens reclaiming their rightful place as central actors in governing. No longer on the outside, merely relegated to “watching the wheels go round” (to quote another former Beatles singer), citizens were now part of the policy process.
I was reminded of this when I read Ontario Citizens’ Assembly member Matthew Certosimo’s reflections on being part of that assembly. It’s worth a read and speaks to the enduring impact of involvement in citizens’ assemblies.