e-4090 (Democratic process)

Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled

• The power of democracy is grounded in the perception of its legitimacy by citizens living within it;
• Representative democracy in its current form was established centuries ago, at a time with different understandings of leadership, and it has changed little since then;
• There is a growing perception across the political spectrum that democracy in its current form does not serve the needs of its citizenry;
• Democracy is in decline around the world and at home;
• Partisanship, the role of money in politics, social media, and poor civics education have all played a role in this erosion, as have other political, economic, social and environmental factors;
• Many of these issues grow out of the current structure, and cannot be resolved by the structures which created them;
• In a time of democratic decline, Canada has an opportunity to continue its historic role of promoting democratic values and human rights at home and abroad through innovation;
• Renewal cannot be led by those who benefit from the status quo; and
• Citizen's assemblies have recently been used to deal with large issues in other representative democracies, such as France, Ireland and Iceland to name a few.