Participatory Direct Democracy Association of Canada

Participatory Direct Democracy Association of Canada
(Inactive)

In Memory of George Sagi PDDA was the brainchild of George Sagi who devoted many years of his life to the promotion of true participatory democracy (see the Publications link below). George passed away on January 7, 2015, in his 90th year. He is remembered by many like-minded individuals who shared his ideas. A DD conference dedicated to his memory was proposed for June 2015.

Publications Founded in 1999 in Winnipeg PDDA Archive

PDDA mission is to help citizens in establishing genuine participatory deliberative democracy. We believe that all citizens have the right to directly participate in lawmaking and other governmental functions where they live. We seek to develop and promote participatory processes that would allow the people to exercise their rights to govern themselves.

We support all initiatives to make the Canadian political system more democratic, that would lead to increased participation and representation of all Canadians.
Significant changes in this direction may be possible only after the replacement of the current first-past-the-post voting system by a proportional representation voting system as requested by a Fair Vote Canada petition.
Everybody can support the campaign for the change of the Ontario election system.

If a majority of citizens in a given community would require it, elements of Direct Democracy (DD) could most easily be introduced on a local level. PDDA will promote this idea by gathering the opinion of citizens on various important issues on all levels (local, provincial, federal). If a a significant support (consensus) on a certain issue is obtained in our polls, PDDA will send such results to the respective elected representatives with a request to act upon them or to have the public vote on them in a referendum.

Canadian DD links

Canadians have a possibility of input in the Canada's regulatory process. Most submissions in these consultations are from institutions or professionals (as most of the consultations are highly technical), but ordinary citizens also participate. Until 2009, some consultations were also in the Canada Gazette (which is currently at this new URL).

PDDA Polls

Do you want to be able to participate between elections at least to some extent in all the decision making by various levels of government that affect directly your life? In other words, are you in favour of introducing elements of Direct Democracy in your government as soon as possible?

Are you in favour of full fledged Direct Democracy (in which all important decisions are made directly by all citizens, and various administrations only carry out these decisions), provided that there are technological means to realize it?

Alberta (Calgary) Page

Manitoba Page

All the polls done in this way can be only very approximate.
Any vote is hardly meaningful without the availability of objective information (something we also need to request) and thorough discussion of each issue. We will provide a forum for discussions here if there is enough interest. Some mainstream media already provide short-term polling of and fora for reader's views.
CBC's Cross Country Checkup has some very lively discussions on matters of national importance. May 15 (2005?) Checkup heard voices requiring seeking real alternatives to letting the two main inflexible political parties govern us top down. PDDA can provide a forum for seeking such participative alternatives.

Here is an interesting idea how to realize participatory democracy: CivicNet - citizens would prepare asynchronously their positions on various issues, and the executive would then query the individual citizen databases to determine the national positions on these issues.
If and when such a CivicNet is feasible, would you support it, and participate in it?

Any inherited position (such as that of a hereditary monarch) is inconsistent with true democracy.
You can read more on this issue for example at the Citizens for a Canadian Republic site, or in the Canadian Parliamentary Review (The Future of the Crown in Canada, Edward McWhinney).

Are you in favour of replacing the present Canadian Monarchy by a Canadian Republic?

Please join us, suggest subjects for PDDA polls in your area, start a local PDDA chapter, network with us.

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Better World is Possible

There was a shorted-lived Canadian branch enitiatives.ca of Enitiatives.org launched on April 19, 2007.