Citizens Talkingto CitizensPublic Consultation Guide

Ontario Citizens’ Assembly onElectoral Reform

Contact InformationPrint copies of this document are available at ServiceOntario/Government InformationCentres in more than 60 communities around the province. For the location closest to you,please visit www.serviceontario.ca.

Electronic copies are available in .pdf.Visit the Citizens’Assembly website atwww.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca.

Alternative-format copies are available on request at info@citizensassembly.gov.on.ca

Une publication équivalente est disponible en français au site web suivant :www.assembleedescitoyens.gouv.on.ca.

© Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2006

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ntario has changed significantly sinceour first parliament was elected in 1792.Since that time the electoral system hasnever been publicly considered or evaluated.Some people think the current systemhas stood the test of time. Other peoplethink it’s time for a change.The Citizens’Assembly process gives all Ontarians anopportunity to learn more about Ontario’scurrent electoral system, as well as others,and to decide which one they think isbest for this province.

The Citizens’ Assembly wants to

hear what you think.

Voting is fundamental to democracy.Theelectoral system determines what choiceswe have at election time and how ourindividual votes are counted and translatedinto seats in the legislature. In otherwords, the electoral system affects who iselected to represent us and which partiesform the government and opposition.

Electoral systems are based on principlesor values, such as fair representation,voter choice, and stable government.Thisis the first time Ontario citizens have hadthe opportunity to discuss what we valuein an electoral system and what systemwe believe best reflects these values.

The Citizens’Assembly must recommendto the government whether Ontarioshould keep its current electoral systemor adopt a new one. If the Assembly recommends a change, the governmentwill hold a referendum on our proposalbefore or as part of the next provincialelection, which is scheduled for October4, 2007.We invite you to get involved andadd your voice to this important process.

A referendum will be held if the

Citizens’ Assembly recommends a

new electoral system.

Get InvolvedThe Assembly would like to hear from asmany Ontarians as possible: those whoknow a lot about electoral systems, andthose who are just beginning to think orlearn about the subject.The consultationperiod will run from late October 2006 tothe end of January 2007.What you tell uswill assist the Assembly when we discusswhat to recommend to the government.

This guide will help you present yourideas to the Assembly, however youchoose to participate.You can share yourviews with us by:

• Sending written comments by January15, 2007, online, by mail, or by fax.

• Coming to a consultation meetingfrom mid-November 2006 to lateJanuary 2007 and participating in thediscussion.

• Making a presentation at a consultationmeeting.To do this, you must first register online or by phone.

You’ll find detailed information on howto participate starting on page 12.

This guide provides a brief introduction tothe principles and characteristics of electoralsystems and to various types of electoralsystems.We encourage you to visit our website, www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca,or contact the Citizens’AssemblySecretariat for additional resources tohelp you learn about the strengths andweaknesses of various systems.

The Assembly has not yet reached

any conclusions. We are open to

hearing all points of view. The purpose

of the consultation is for us to learn

what’s important to you.

O

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Tell Us What You Think The Citizens’Assembly is asking the publicfour questions.

Public Consultation Questions

1. Which of the principles described

on pages 4-6 are most important

to you? Why?

• Are there other principles you

think are important? Why?

2. Does Ontario’s current electoral

system reflect the principles that

are important to you? If yes, why?

If no, why not?

3. Do you think Ontario should keep

its current electoral system or

change to a different one?

• If you think Ontario should

change to a different system,

which one do you prefer? Why?

• How does the system you prefer

reflect the principles that are

important to you?

4. Do you have any other comments

or recommendations related to the

Assembly’s mandate?

About the Citizens’ AssemblyOur Mandate and Work

We are Ontario’s first Citizens’Assembly.The Assembly was established by a regulation under Ontario’s Election Actand is independent of government. Ourmandate is to assess Ontario’s electoralsystem and other systems and to recom-mend whether the province should keepits current system or adopt a different one.

We are doing our work in three phases:

1. Learning Phase—In the fall of 2006,the Assembly is spending six weekendslearning about Ontario’s electoral systemand other systems.The Assembly’s academic director, Dr. Jonathan Rose,associate professor of political scienceat Queen’s University in Kingston, isleading this intensive learning program.Dr.Rose is presenting information aboutelectoral systems in an impartial wayand coordinating presentations from awide range of experts on the subject.

2. Consultation Phase—From lateOctober to January 15, 2007, we’reinviting written comments from Ontariocitizens.We’re also holding consultationmeetings across the province frommid-November 2006 to late January2007 where people can make presen-tations and participate in discussions.

3. Deliberation Phase—Starting inFebruary 2007, the Assembly will meetfor another six weekends to discusswhat we’ve learned and what we’veheard in the consultation.Then we’lldecide what to recommend to the government. Our report is due by May 15, 2007.

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Citizens’ Assembly Members

The Citizens’Assembly is made up of 104Ontarians: 103 randomly selected citizens—one from each of the province’s electoraldistricts—plus our Chair, George Thomson,who was appointed by the government.There are 52 men and 52 women in theAssembly. Many of us were born inOntario or in other parts of Canada.About a third of us were born in otherparts of the world.We have a wide rangeof occupations—teachers, informationtechnology specialists, engineers, smallbusiness owners, healthcare workers,caregivers, students, and retirees, to namejust a few.We’re also diverse in age, back-ground, education, and interests and inmany other ways.

Our differences are important becausethey allow us to bring diverse perspectivesto the work of the Assembly. But equallyimportant is what we have in common.We are all voters.We all expressed interestin joining the Citizens’Assembly and wererandomly selected from our electoral districts.We are all deeply committed tothis process and to working togethertoward a common goal.

Our Chair,George Thomson, is an educator,former judge,and former deputy minister.Heis facilitating the work of the Assembly andensuring that we have the support we needto learn,consult,and deliberate effectively.He is leading the Assembly process,but he isnot leading us toward a particular decision.Mr.Thomson doesn’t have a vote in theAssembly unless one is needed to break a tie.

The Citizens’Assembly Secretariat is thestaff team supporting the work of theAssembly.You’ll find photos and shortbiographies of Assembly members, ourChair, our academic director, and staff onthe Citizens’Assembly website. See page15 for a list of members.

Electoral Systems

Introduction to Electoral SystemsThe representatives of the people ofOntario, called members of provincial parliament (MPPs), hold seats in the legislature at Queen’s Park.The electoralsystem determines how these seats arefilled when the votes are counted at election time.

Many electoral systems are used aroundthe world. Each works in a different wayand produces different results.TheCitizens’Assembly mandate is to assessOntario’s current electoral system andother systems.To do this, we can start byidentifying a set of principles that wevalue, and then we can decide whichsystem is most likely to reflect them. It’s a bit like buying a car. Before you head tothe dealership, you think about what features are most important to you: size,safety, fuel efficiency, cost, and so on.

The regulation that created the Citizens’Assembly directs the Assembly to considereight principles and characteristics andany others it believes are important.These principles were recommended bythe former Select Committee on ElectoralReform, established by the Ontario legisla-ture in 2005 to study electoral systems.The committee was made up of MPPsfrom the Liberal, Progressive Conservative,and New Democratic parties.

ELECTORALSYSTEM

VotesSeats in

Legislature

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The principles, in the order stated in theregulation, are:

• legitimacy

• fairness of representation

• voter choice

• effective parties

• stable and effective government

• effective parliament

• stronger voter participation

• accountability

The Citizens’Assembly has also identifiedtwo other features of an electoral systemthat should be considered.These are:

• simplicity and practicality

It would be difficult for any one electoralsystem to reflect all of these principlesand characteristics fully or even to thesame degree. Electoral system expertsoften say that choosing an electoral systeminvolves trade-offs, or give and take,between a number of desirable principlesand objectives. In other words, emphasizingone principle may mean de-emphasizinganother one.

Electoral systems involve trade-offs,

or give and take, between a number

of desirable principles and objectives.

And as important as electoral systems are,there are limits to what any system, byitself, can accomplish. Many other factors,such as the quality of political leadership,the nomination process for candidates,and the rules of the legislature, influencehow well the principles people value willbe reflected.

Principles and Characteristicsof Electoral SystemsWhat the regulation says about each prin-ciple is quoted below.Then there’s a briefdescription of each principle’s character-istics (taken from the former SelectCommittee’s report and other sources).

Legitimacy

“The electoral system should have theconfidence of Ontarians and reflecttheir values.”

An electoral system must inspire confidencein both its process and its results. Even ifvoters are not happy with the outcome ofan election, they can accept it as legitimateif the electoral system is based on princi-ples that most people value.To use asports analogy, when your team loses, it’seasier to accept the result if you believethe rules of the game were fair.

Legitimacy is the result of a good electoralsystem. If a system reflects the remainingprinciples, it’s likely to be seen as legitimate.

Fairness of Representation

“The Legislative Assembly should reflectthe population of Ontario in accordancewith demographic representation, proportionality and representation bypopulation among other factors.”

The Citizens’Assembly regulation statesthree ways to think about representation:demographic representation,proportionality,and representation by population.

Demographic representation meansthat the members of the legislaturereflect the makeup of the province’s pop-ulation: for example, in terms of gender,age, and ethno-cultural identity.

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Proportionality is achieved when theproportion or share of seats that a partywins is roughly equal to the proportionof votes that it receives in the election.

Representation by population requiresthat each vote carry equal weight inelecting representatives to the legislature.

Voter Choice

“An electoral system should promotevoter choice in terms of quantity andquality of options available to voters.”

Quantity refers to the range of choices vot-ers have on the ballot. In some electoral systems,voters choose only a candidate. Inothers, voters can vote directly for a politi-cal party. Some systems allow voters tomake only one choice among candidates orparties;others allow or require voters to ranktheir preferences (first, second,third,etc.).

Quality of choice means that voters feelthey have a meaningful choice to makeon election day.They have the opportunityto select from among candidates or partieswho represent genuinely differentapproaches to governing.

Effective Parties

“Political parties should be able tostructure public debate, mobilize andengage the electorate, and developpolicy alternatives.”

Political parties play an essential role indemocracies.They attract members whoshare similar beliefs and develop policiesthat reflect their goals and priorities.Parties also promote public debate onimportant issues.Whether you think partiesare effective depends on what you thinkthey should do and how you think theyshould do it.

Electoral systems affect the number ofparties that are likely to win seats in thelegislature. In some systems, only majorparties tend to win seats. In others, smallparties can obtain some representation.Some systems make it easier for parties tosucceed if their support is distributedover the whole province or country.Others favour parties with supportconcentrated in a specific region.

Stable and Effective Government

“The electoral system shouldcontribute to continuity of government,and governments should be able todevelop and implement their agendasand take decisive action whenrequired.”

An effective government can manage theaffairs of the province and carry out thepolicy platform that the party (or parties)set out during the election campaign.A government is also effective if it canmake decisions and take action quicklywhen needed.

Different electoral systems tend to producedifferent kinds of governments. Canadiansoften associate stability with single-partymajority governments, where one party hasa majority (50% plus 1) of seats in the legis-lature. Other major democracies, such asFrance and Germany, have experience withstable coalition governments, where two ormore parties govern together and usuallyhave a majority of seats between them.

Effective Parliament

“The Legislative Assembly shouldinclude a government and opposition,and should be able to perform its parliamentary functions successfully.”

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The Legislative Assembly (Ontario’s legis-lature) passes laws, authorizes spending,and debates many important public policyissues. An effective legislature has aneffective government and an effectiveopposition.The opposition parties—thosewith seats in the legislature who aren’tpart of the government—must be able towatch the government closely and presentalternatives to the government’s positions.

Electoral systems are primarily responsiblefor determining how parties make up thelegislature—which parties win seats andhow many they win.This, in turn, caninfluence how the legislature functions.

Stronger Voter Participation

“Ontario’s electoral system shouldpromote voter participation as well asengagement with the broader demo-cratic process.”

People have many different reasons forvoting or not voting. It’s important to askwhether some of these reasons relate tohow they feel about the electoral systemand the way it translates their votes intoseats. People may be more likely to vote,or to participate more generally in thepolitical process, if they have confidencein the electoral system and believe theirvotes will make a difference.

Political parties can play an importantrole in getting people to vote. How wellparties do this job may depend, in part,on what incentives the electoral systemgives them. For example, in some systems,parties are motivated to campaign forevery available vote. In other systems,parties tend to campaign strategically,focusing their efforts on the electoraldistricts they are most likely to win.

Accountability

“Ontario voters should be able toidentify decision-makers and holdthem to account.”

Different electoral systems producedifferent types of governments.Governments can be made up of oneparty that is accountable for decisions ortwo or more parties that share accounta-bility. A single-party majority or minoritygovernment has one party responsible forits decisions. A coalition government hastwo (or sometimes more) parties thatmake decisions together.

The lines of accountability are differentdepending on whether the electoral systemallows voters to vote for a local candidate,a party, or both.Voters can try to holdgovernments accountable with theirvotes,but this is not always straightforward.For example, in electoral systems wherevoters choose a local candidate only, theymay like a candidate but not his or herparty. In systems where voters vote for aparty, they may support the party but notthe party’s choice of candidates.

Simplicity, Practicality, and Other

Principles

The Citizens’Assembly would like toknow how important you think simplicityand practicality are in an electoral system.Please let us know if there are any otherprinciples or characteristics you think weshould consider.

Consultation Question 1

Which of the principles described

on pages 4-6 are most important

to you? Why? Are there other

principles you think are important?

Why?

Families of Electoral Systems For the sake of simplicity, electoral sys-tems can be divided into families orgroups, based on features they have incommon.This guide discusses four fami-lies and seven systems used in majordemocracies around the world.

All electoral systems have three basic elements:

• the number of representatives electedin each electoral district (riding)

• the electoral formula or rules for deter-mining who wins the seat or seats

• the type of ballot.

This guide provides only basic informationabout electoral systems. Please visit ourwebsite, www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca,or contact the Citizens’AssemblySecretariat for more in-depth materials.See page 12 for descriptions of some ofthe resources available on our site.

Plurality Family: Single-Member Plurality

Used in Canada, Ghana, India, Kenya,Malaysia, Trinidad & Tobago, United Kingdom,United States, and other countries.

Single-Member Plurality (SMP) is thesystem used in Ontario and all otherCanadian provinces, and for electionsto the federal parliament in Ottawa.Thesystem is often called “First Past the Post”because it works a bit like a horse race.There is only one winner in each electoraldistrict or riding, and the winner simply

has to finish ahead ofthe other candidates.

Voters choose a singlemember to representtheir electoral district.The ballot lists thenames of all the candi-dates running in thedistrict, and votersmark an X next to thecandidate of theirchoice. In SMP, when

you vote for a candidate, you’re also vot-ing for that candidate’s political party.

Votes are counted in each district, andthe candidate with the most votes iselected.The winner needs more votesthan any other candidate (a plurality), butdoes not need a majority (50% plus 1) ofthe votes.

For example, in an election where 100votes are cast, a majority would be 51votes. If the Yellow candidate gets 40votes, the Purple candidate gets 35, andthe Grey candidate gets 25, no candidatehas a majority. But the Yellow candidatewins the seat with a plurality because 40votes are more than either of the others got.

In Ontario’s current system, a

candidate needs more votes than

any other candidate to win—not a

majority.

Families Systems

Plurality • Single-Member Plurality (SMP)

Majority • Alternative Vote (AV)• Two-Round System (TRS)

Proportional Representation (PR) • List PR• Single Transferable Vote (STV)

Mixed • Mixed Member Proportional (MMP)• Parallel Systems

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Supporters of the system like the fact thatit often produces a single-party majoritygovernment.Where there are more partiesable to win seats—as at the federal levelin Canada—the likelihood of minoritygovernment increases. Coalition govern-ments, where two parties govern together,are rare in this system.

In Single-Member Plurality, the number ofseats a party has in the legislature reflectsthe number of electoral districts it haswon, but not necessarily the share orproportion of votes it has received. Forexample, the table shows the differencebetween the percentage of votes the partiesreceived and the percentage of seats theywon in the 2003 Ontario election.

It can be difficult for small or new partiesto succeed under SMP. Parties that havestrong regional support have an easiertime because they’re more likely to winin electoral districts where their supportis concentrated. Small or new parties thatappeal broadly to all voters may have aharder time winning in any one electoraldistrict.

Consultation Question 2

Does Ontario’s current electoral

system reflect the principles that

are important to you? If yes, why?

If no, why not?

Majority Family: AlternativeVote and Two-Round SystemAlternative Vote (AV) and the Two-RoundSystem (TRS) are both majority electoralsystems.

As in Ontario, in these two systems, eachelectoral district is represented by a singlemember. And the number of seats a partyhas in the legislature reflects the numberof districts it has won.What’s different,and what supporters of majority systemslike, is that a candidate must get a majorityof votes—50% plus 1—to win.

If there are only two candidates in therace, the winner will automaticallyreceive a majority of votes. But usuallythere are more than two candidates on theballot.The problem that majority systemsmust solve is how to ensure that onecandidate receives a majority in a racethat has more than two competitors.AV and TRS provide two different solutions.

Alternative Vote

Used in Australia, Fiji, and New Guinea(2007).

With Alternative Vote, voters indicate notonly their favourite candidate—their firstpreference—but also a second choice,a third choice, and so on.When the first-preference votes are counted, if onecandidate has a majority, he or she iselected and that’s that.

Ontario Legislative Assembly, 2003

Party % of Number % ofVotes of Seats Seats

Liberal 46.4 72 69.9

PC 34.6 24 23.3

NDP 14.7 7 6.8

Green 2.8 0 0

Other 1.5 0 0

TOTAL 100.0 103 100.0

PC = Progressive Conservative Party

NDP = New Democratic Party

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If no candidate wins a majority, the last-place finisher—the candidate with thelowest number of first-preference votes—is eliminated. Now the voters’ alternativechoices come into play.The second-preference votes of those whosefavourite candidate has been eliminatedare distributed to the remaining candidates.This counting process continues until onecandidate has a majority of the votes andis elected.

Alternative Vote tends to produce single-party or coalition majority governments.As with Ontario’s Single-Member Pluralitysystem, the election results aren’t usuallyproportional—that is, the share of seats aparty wins doesn’t necessarily correspondto the share of votes it receives.WithAlternative Vote, it can also be difficult for new parties to win seats.

Two-Round System

Used in Egypt, France, Mali, Togo,Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and other countries.

Under the Two-Round System, the ballottypically looks like the one Ontarians areused to.Voters mark a single X next tothe candidate of their choice. If nocandidate wins a majority, a second roundof voting takes place, usually a week ortwo later.The most common type ofsecond round is a run-off contestbetween the two candidates who got themost votes in the first round, so that onecandidate is sure to win a majority inthe second round.

The Two-Round System typically producessingle-party majority governments orcoalition majority governments made upof parties with similar positions.The systemcan encourage bargaining between partiesor candidates, as they work together tosupport the successful candidates from

the first round in the lead-up to thesecond round. As with Alternative Vote,election results under TRS aren’t necessarilyproportional, and it can be difficult fornew parties to win seats.

Proportional Representation(PR) Family: List PR andSingle Transferable VoteIn proportional representation systems,voters usually vote for a party. Then eachparty’s share of votes is translated into acorresponding share of seats in thelegislature. For example, a party that wins30% of the votes will receive approximately30% of the seats.This is one of the featuressupporters like about the system.

In proportional representation sys-

tems, a party’s share of seats is

roughly equal to its share of votes.

Proportional representation requireselectoral districts with more than onerepresentative each.The number ofrepresentatives in each district variesgreatly from country to country. In theNetherlands, the entire country is oneelectoral district and has 150representatives. Sweden is probablymore typical, with 29 multi-memberdistricts averaging 11 members each.The greater the number of representativesto be elected from a district, the moreproportional the election results are likelyto be.

There are two major types of proportion-al representation systems: List PR andSingle Transferable Vote (STV).

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List PR

Used in Argentina, Brazil, Czech Republic,Greece, Portugal, South Africa, Spain,Sweden, Switzerland, and other countries.

Under a List PR system,each party presentsa ballot with its candidates listed in theorder in which it wants them to be elected.Parties can put their leaders or star candidates at the top of the list.They canalso use the list to promote the electionof women and minority groups.

Party lists can be closed, open, or free:

• If the list is closed, voters can’t changeanything on the list.The majority of ListPR systems in the world use closedlists. Seats won by a party will be filledin order, starting at the top of the list.

• If the list is open, voters may changethe order of the candidates that theparty has provided.

• If the list is free, voters may vote forand rank any of the candidates, regard-less of party. Switzerland’s system is anexample.

When the votes are counted, partiesreceive seats in proportion to their sharesof the vote. Because the shares of partyvotes never come out as perfect wholenumbers, systems use various mathematicalformulas to smooth out the fractions andassign the seats proportionally.

In List PR systems, there’s often a threshold,or a percentage of the overall vote, that aparty must reach in order to qualify for ashare of seats.These thresholds vary fromcountry to country.

With List PR, single-party majority govern-ments are rare and coalition governmentsare the norm. Proportional representation

makes it easier for smaller parties to winseats and participate in government aspart of a coalition.

Single Transferable Vote (STV)

Used in Australia (Federal Senate),Malta, and the Republic of Ireland.

Single Transferable Vote uses multi-member electoral districts, and votersrank the candidates in order of preferenceon the ballot (as in Alternative Vote),regardless of party. In STV, a party canhave more than one candidate in thesame race, in effect running againsteach other.

Single Transferable Vote establishes aquota, or a minimum number of votes,required to elect a candidate. Each racemay take several rounds of counting todecide. First, any candidates who reachthe quota on first-preference votesalone are elected. If these candidateshave surplus votes—more votes thanneeded to meet the quota—then thenext preferences on their ballots arecounted and the surplus votes are transferred to other candidates.

Each time a count is made and no onereaches the quota, the candidate withthe fewest votes is eliminated and thoseballots are transferred to voters’ nextpreferences.This process continuesuntil all seats in the district are filled.

Coalition governments are common inIreland, and single-party majority governments are the norm in Malta.As with List PR, the greater the numberof representatives to be elected from anelectoral district, the greater thelikelihood that Single Transferable Votewill produce proportional results.

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Mixed Family: MixedMember Proportional andParallel SystemsMixed systems combine features of twofamilies: the single-member electoraldistricts of plurality or majority systems,and the proportionality of proportionalrepresentation.This combination oflocal and proportional representation isone of the reasons supporters like it.Mixed systems usually allow voters tomark two preferences—one for a localcandidate and one for a political party.

Mixed Member Proportional (MMP)

Used in Bolivia, Germany, Lesotho,Mexico, New Zealand, Venezuela, andother countries.

In Mixed Member Proportional, eachparty’s share of the vote determines theshare of seats it will have in the legislature.A party fills its allotment of seats firstwith the local candidates who were elected.Depending on the country, local candidatesneed either a plurality (the most votes)or a majority (50% plus 1) to win.Then,if the party still has seats to fill to get itsproportional share, they are filled withcandidates from its party list. Each partyprovides a list of its candidates in theorder in which it wants them to be elected.

The party seats are sometimes referred toas “adjustment” seats, because they’reused to adjust for any disproportionalresults produced by the elections of localcandidates. For example, if a party wins20% of the party vote but only 10% of thelocal seats, it will be allocated enoughadjustment seats to bring its totalrepresentation in the legislature up to 20%.

The proportion of seats set aside asadjustment seats varies from country tocountry. For example, in Germany, halfthe seats are filled by local candidates andhalf are adjustment seats, filled fromregional party lists.The greater thepercentage of adjustment seats, the moreproportional the election results can be.

As with List PR, results under MixedMember Proportional tend to beproportional and coalition governmentsare the norm. Most MMP systems alsohave a threshold of support that a partymust reach in order to receive adjustmentseats.

Parallel Systems

Used in Japan, Pakistan, the Philippines,Russia, South Korea, and other countries.

In many ways the mechanics of Parallelsystems are similar to those of MixedMember Proportional systems. Like MMPsystems, Parallel systems usually allowvoters to vote for a local candidate usinga plurality or majority formula and to votefor a party through a List PR system.

In Parallel systems, two simultaneous butseparate elections are held. In contrast toMMP, there is no relationship between thetwo votes, and parties aren’t compensatedfor disproportional results by the use ofadjustment seats. Despite this, the partylist election may allow parties that don’t winlocal seats to gain some representation inthe legislature.

Single-party majority governments maybe more likely under Parallel systemsthan under Mixed Member Proportionalsystems.

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Consultation Question 3

Do you think Ontario shouldkeep its current electoral systemor change to a different one?If you think Ontario shouldchange to a different system,which one do you prefer?Why? How does the systemyou prefer reflect the principlesthat are important to you?

More Information onElectoral SystemsVisit the Citizens’Assembly website,www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca, to findout more about electoral systems and seewhat the Assembly is learning.Here aresome examples of the range of materials,from introductory to advanced, that youwill find on our website in “The Classroom.”

• “Principles and Characteristics ofElectoral Systems”—An introductionto the eight principles and characteristicsin the regulation that created theCitizens’Assembly.

• “Billy Ballot”—An animated trip aroundthe world that gives you an overview ofhow different electoral systems work.

• “From Votes to Seats: Four Familiesof Electoral Systems”—A five-partbooklet with glossary that providesmore in-depth information about electoralsystems and measures systems againstthe eight principles and characteristics.

• Electoral System Design: The NewInternational IDEA Handbook—Acomprehensive look at how differentelectoral systems work and the advantagesand disadvantages of each.This is oneof the textbooks the Citizens’Assemblyis using.

• Annotated Bibliography—Suggestionsfor further reading,divided into introduc-tory, intermediate,and advanced materials.

How to ParticipateThere are several ways to share yourviews with the Citizens’Assembly:

• Send us written comments online, bymail, or by fax.

• Come out to a consultation meetingand join the discussion.

• Register online or by phone to make apresentation at a consultation meeting.

You can make a presentation and sendwritten comments if you wish. If yousend your comments in writing, they willbe shared with the Assembly and postedon our website for the public to read.The presentations at each consultationmeeting will be summarized as a group,not individually.

See “Contact Information” on page 14 forhow to reach us.

Written CommentsYou are invited to send written com-ments to the Assembly until January 15,2007.This deadline will give us time toreview and consider your contributionsbefore we begin our Deliberation Phasein February. However, we encourage youto send your comments as early as youcan, especially if they are lengthy.

The deadline for written

comments is January 15, 2007.

You may send your comments to usonline, by mail, or by fax. Electroniccontributions may be made by typingcomments directly on our website or by

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attaching a document in Word, PowerPoint,Excel,PDF,or other formats.You may writeas little or as much as you wish.Please usethe consultation questions on page 2 as aguide when writing your comments.

Each Assembly member will try to read asmany of your comments as possible.Tohelp us,Citizens’Assembly Secretariat staffwill read all of every contribution and preparea summary of each one.These summarieswill be shared with the Assembly and postedon our website.The full texts of commentswill also be posted on the website andavailable through a searchable database.Documents received by mail or by fax willbe scanned and posted on the website.

Consultation Meetings The Citizens’Assembly is holding 37 consul-tation meetings from mid-November 2006to late January 2007. See page 16 for thedates and locations of meetings.

You can attend any consultation meetingand participate in the discussion.You donot need to register first, unless you wishto make a presentation (see below).

Please let the Secretariat know at leasttwo weeks in advance if you are planningto attend a meeting that is not identifiedas “French” or “bilingual” and you requireFrench language services.

If you require arrangements to accommodate a disability, please givethe Secretariat three weeks’ notice.

Please come to a consultation meet-

ing even if you don’t wish to make a

presentation. The meetings are an

opportunity to learn more about

electoral systems, ask questions,

and participate in a discussion

with Assembly members and

fellow citizens.

Presentations

You must pre-register online or by phoneto make a presentation at a consultationmeeting. Each meeting will accommodateup to 10 presenters for 10 minutes each.You may sign up only once, so that asmany people as possible have theopportunity to share their views.

Requests to make presentations will befilled on a first-come-first-served basis.Once the available spaces are filled, peoplewill be able to put their names on a waitinglist. If some meetings fill up and othersdon’t, the Citizens’Assembly Secretariatwill ask people on the waiting listwhether they would like to make apresentation at another meeting nearby.

The Assembly has the option to scheduleadditional meetings, but may not have thetime to hear everyone who wishes topresent. People on the waiting list will beinvited to send in written comments.

The Citizens’Assembly Secretariat willprepare a general summary of key themesfrom each meeting, which will be sharedwith the Assembly and posted on ourwebsite. Presentations will also be video-taped. But if you wish the full text of yourpresentation to be available to theAssembly and to the public, please send itto us in writing as well.

Making the Most of Your

Presentation Time

Each presenter will be given 10 minutesto speak. Here are some suggestions tohelp you make the most of this time:

• Please use about 5 to 7 minutes tomake your comments and leave 3 to 5minutes for questions from Assemblymembers or members of the public.

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The meeting facilitator will let presentersknow when they’ve reached the5-minute point.

• Please begin your presentation with asummary of your key points andrecommendations and then expand onthem.That way, you’ll be sure to getyour message across.

• Please use the four consultationquestions on page 2 to guide you asyou prepare your comments.This willhelp ensure that your presentationcovers the two main topics of theconsultation—desirable principles andtypes of electoral systems—and focuseson issues that are within the Assembly’smandate.

In order to maximize the time availablefor presentations, please do not use audio-visual equipment.

Contact InformationSend in your written comments or registerto make a presentation at a consultationmeeting through the Citizens’Assemblywebsite atwww.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca.

If you don’t have Internet access, writeto us at:

Citizens’Assembly Secretariat1075 Bay StreetSuite 830Toronto, Ontario M5S 2B1

Send a fax to: 416-325-8390

Or call:

Tel. 416-325-0758

Toll free 1-866-317-3208

TTY: 416-325-6440 or 1-866-733-9751

We look forward to hearing your viewsand talking to you—citizens to citizens.

Thank you from the Ontario Citizens’Assembly on Electoral Reform.

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Chair George ThomsonAlgoma-Manitoulin Donald BrickettAncaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Aldershot Jeff WittBarrie-Simcoe-Bradford Karl CaderaBeaches-East York Catherine BaqueroBramalea-Gore-Malton-Springdale Theresa VellaBrampton Centre Joyce HughesBrampton West-Mississauga Mappanar SundrelingamBrant Leana SwansonBruce-Grey-Owen Sound Arita DroogBurlington Sandra RichterCambridge Jerrold LabrecqueChatham-Kent Essex Jean ThompsonDavenport Jon BridgmanDon Valley East Olivera BakicDon Valley West Taylor GilbertDufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey Matthew L.O. CertosimoDurham Margo BathEglinton-Lawrence Laura AntonioElgin-Middlesex-London Darcie BeckleyErie-Lincoln John TollEssex Tamara FickEtobicoke Centre Melinda SelmysEtobicoke North Zaya YonanEtobicoke-Lakeshore Tom EngelhartGlengarry-Prescott-Russell Roxanne TaillonGuelph-Wellington Elsayed AbdelaalHaldimand-Norfolk-Brant Jon KristmanHaliburton-Victoria-Brock Marie McLarenHalton John DaleyHamilton East Rose ArsenaultHamilton Mountain Jennie StakichHamilton West Frank O'GradyHastings-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington Dianne CareyHuron-Bruce Scott AllenKenora-Rainy River Julia CranerKingston and the Islands Buddhadeb ChakrabartyKitchener Centre Marcia SoedaKitchener-Waterloo Ron VanKoughnettLambton-Kent-Middlesex Peter SorokaLanark-Carleton Bruno SteinkeLeeds-Grenville Fran ByersLondon North Centre Catarina FernandesLondon West George DennisLondon-Fanshawe Linda BarnumMarkham Andreo CornacchiaMississauga Centre Salma AzizMississauga East Carolyn AgasildMississauga South Ellen ChanMississauga West Patrick HeenanNepean-Carleton Peter WarrenNiagara Centre Stephanie JonesNiagara Falls Salvación Villamil

Nickel Belt Richard BowdidgeNipissing Roland GibeauNorthumberland Wendy LawrenceOak Ridges Pat MillerOakville Laura WellsOshawa Nancy CollinsOttawa Centre Tara CurrieOttawa South John TownesendOttawa West-Nepean Carl BergerOttawa-Orléans Thomas TaylorOttawa-Vanier Chris DoodyOxford Margaret MessengerParkdale-High Park Andrea KirkhamParry Sound-Muskoka Jordan ElliottPerth-Middlesex Lynda DillPeterborough Ann ThomasPickering-Ajax-Uxbridge Raj RoopansinghPrince Edward-Hastings Cornelio ReyesRenfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke Maureen GraceSarnia-Lambton Jim PassinghamSault Ste. Marie David ViitalaScarborough Centre Donna TichonchukScarborough East Monica WappelScarborough Southwest Elton PintoScarborough-Agincourt Catherine ShumScarborough-Rouge River Al JosephSimcoe North Georgette AmadioSimcoe-Grey Elaine PommerSt. Catharines Ron GreenSt. Paul’s Rick SmithStoney Creek Sue TileyStormont-Dundas-Charlottenburgh David ProulxSudbury Christine RobertThornhill Paul LitowitzThunder Bay-Atikokan Nuala WieckowskiThunder Bay-Superior North Pam PattersonTimiskaming-Cochrane Hal WillisTimmins-James Bay Lise BretonToronto Centre-Rosedale Mayte DarraidouToronto-Danforth Ekaterini TraikosTrinity-Spadina Garth NicholsVaughan-King-Aurora John RestonWaterloo-Wellington Bill RitzWhitby-Ajax Ted SavelleWillowdale Bryan Byong-Kuon KimWindsor West Marisa SquizzatoWindsor-St.Clair Mary Jane McMullenYork Centre Tom RicciYork North Edmund JamesYork South-Weston William Kwegyir-AggreyYork West Nathan Duru-Obisi

Members of the Ontario Citizens’ Assembly

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NovemberBrampton Monday, November 20, 2006Oshawa Tuesday, November 21, 2006Mississauga Tuesday, November 21, 2006Oakville Wednesday, November 22, 2006Dryden Monday, November 27, 2006Timmins (bilingual meeting) Monday, November 27, 2006Thunder Bay Tuesday, November 28, 2006North Bay Tuesday, November 28, 2006Sault Ste. Marie Wednesday, November 29, 2006Sudbury (bilingual meeting) Wednesday, November 29, 2006St. Catharines Thursday, November 30, 2006

DecemberOwen Sound Monday, December 4, 2006Markham Monday, December 4, 2006Peterborough Tuesday, December 5, 2006Hamilton Wednesday, December 6, 2006Orangeville Wednesday, December 6, 2006Barrie Thursday, December 7, 2006Toronto East Thursday, December 7, 2006

JanuaryToronto Central (bilingual meeting) Monday, January 8, 2007Toronto West Monday, January 8, 2007Windsor (bilingual meeting) Tuesday, January 9, 2007London Tuesday, January 9, 2007Sarnia Wednesday, January 10, 2007Kitchener/Waterloo Wednesday, January 10, 2007London Thursday, January 11, 2007Ottawa (French-only meeting) Thursday, January 11, 2007Cornwall (bilingual meeting) Monday, January 15, 2007Belleville Monday, January 15, 2007Ottawa (bilingual meeting) Tuesday, January 16, 2007Kingston Tuesday, January 16, 2007Ottawa Wednesday, January 17, 2007Bracebridge Thursday, January 18, 2007Burlington Thursday, January 18, 2007Niagara Falls (bilingual meeting) Monday, January 22, 2006Toronto West Tuesday, January 23, 2007Kenora Tuesday, January 23, 2007Toronto Central Thursday, January 25, 2006

All meetings are from 7:00 p.m. to 10 p.m.Visit the Citizens’Assembly website,www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca, or contact the Citizens’Assembly Secretariat for venues.

Consultation Meetings

If you send written comments or make a presentation to the Ontario Citizens’Assembly on Electoral Reform as part of the public consultation process, please note:

• If you send written comments, the Citizens’ Assembly Secretariat will prepare a briefsummary of your comments, which will be posted on the website along with the full textof your comments. Oral presentations will not be transcribed or summarized individually;however, they will be videotaped, and the video footage will be posted on the website.In addition, a general summary of key themes from each consultation meeting will beprepared and posted on the website.

• Your name will become part of the public record and will be posted on the Citizens’Assembly website.The information you provide may be used for research and statisticalpurposes. If so, individuals will not be identified.

• You may be contacted by the Citizens’ Assembly Secretariat for further information inconnection with your comments or presentation.

• Upon completion of the Citizens’ Assembly project, records will be transferred to theArchives of Ontario, and information may continue to be available through the website.

• The information collected from you is needed to fulfill the requirement for the Assembly to consultand submit a report to the Government of Ontario in accordance with Ontario Regulation82/06 available at http://www.e laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Regs/English/060082_e.htm.

For further information about our information collection practices, please contact theCitizens’Assembly Secretariat.