Are citizens apathetic about politics, or simply excluded?  What could draw them in?

Fair Voting BC and Party X are pleased to announce the second event in our E-volving Democracy Dialogue series.  Following our successful meeting on Online Voting last May, our second Dialogue explores questions related to Engaging Citizens in the political process - do citizens have a real opportunity to influence policy, do politicians listen, and how might we do things better? 

Panelists:  To help answer these questions, we have a great panel of experts lined up to share their experiences with a variety of different ways to bring citizens into political discussions:

• Prof. Max Cameron, Director of the UBC Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions, speaking on "A Framework for Engaging Citizens"
  
• Geoff Campbell, Citizens' Assembly Foundation, seeking to make a new kind of Citizens' Assembly a permanent part of government
  
• Tyrone Reitman, Oregon Citizens' Initiative Review, where citizen panels are now routinely convened to explore upcoming referendum questions in detail and provide unbiased evaluations to their fellow citizens
  
• Mark Milke, Fraser Institute, speaking on Switzerland's Referendum and Initiative Processes, where voters can more easily make government backtrack if it goes too far
• Andrea Reimer, Vancouver City Councillor, speaking on the Mayor's Advisory Committee (pdf) and other engagement processes being used or planned in Vancouver

Come join us for a stimulating set of presentations and a lively discussion about how we can adapt these ideas for use here in BC.

Online Participation Option:  We are pleased to announce that our technical volunteers have worked out a way to livestream this event.  Please tune in at http://www.livestream.com/publicforums a few minutes before 2:00.  We will also be recording the speakers and making the videos available after the event.  If you have any difficulties, we will be monitoring the chat forum at livestream.

No Charge;  Donations Invited:  There is no charge for this Dialogue, but we invite and encourage donations to help us cover our costs (approximately $20-25 per person);  you can contribute either online (see Donation ticket below) or at the event.

Post-Meeting Events:  There will be an informal social event afterwards at a nearby pub :).  Also, Fair Voting BC will be holding a short Annual General Meeting from 4:45-5:15 pm - if you would like to join FVBC, please click here to register and to learn how to become a member.