Early this past summer, we started thinking. Word had spread that the Ontario government had begun to select citizens to participate in a long-anticipated process to evaluate the fairness and effectiveness of the province’s electoral system. Their idea was to convene a Citizens’ Assembly made up of one person from each of the 103 ridings in the province. This Assembly would meet, work with experts, hear submissions from the general public and ultimately decide how the province should elect its politicians.

If the Assembly decides that the electoral system needs to be changed, then the government will ask Ontario voters whether they agree in a special referendum likely to be held during the October 2007 provincial election.

At first we weren’t sure quite what to do. We kept scratching our heads and wondering what might be possible. We knew we wanted to expand this process and thought it should be widened to include Ontario high school students and youth. After all, whether Ontario keeps its current electoral system or selects a new one, that system will soon belong to today’s students. So we thought it made sense to ask those students what they thought – about the values they hold and the principles they want to see reflected in the way Ontario elects politicians.

Many people think voting systems are complicated. To be fair, some systems are more complicated than others. There are experts who spend their whole lives studying the differences between voting systems. But what may surprise most people, is that there are different systems.

After all, a vote is a vote, right? And the person who gets the most votes wins.

Well, not necessarily.

In Canada, we vote for local candidates who, unless they are standing as an independent, represent a political party. The candidate who gets the most votes wins a seat, and the party whose candidates win the most seats typically form the government.

That’s the system we know and have grown used to. But in other countries, citizens are asked to vote directly for a party rather than a candidate representing a party. This small difference can have a big effect. Elsewhere, it’s common to rank your vote, so that your second, third or even fourth choice matters when the ballots are counted.

Each of these systems have pluses and minuses. Including ours.

The Citizens’ Assembly is special because it offers us all an opportunity to reflect on the biases and outcomes embedded in own system. It reminds us that there’s nothing inevitable about our political system and it asks us to consider whether another system might do a better job of turning our political preferences into political outcomes.

With the clock ticking and summer flying by, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. The result is this: a parallel assembly process for Ontario high school students, called appropriately enough, The Students’ Assembly on Electoral Reform.

Created with the support of the Ontario government and the Citizens’ Assembly, our job is to engage as many of the province’s high school students as possible in a discussion about electoral reform.

Here’s how it will work.

One hundred and three young people, selected through our online application process, will gather at Deerhurst Resort in Muskoka, from November 15 – 19, 2006. As well as having a great time, students will learn about our current electoral system, alternative systems in use around the world as well as the values and outcomes associated with each. At the close of the conference, participants will recommend an electoral system that they feel best reflects the values of young Ontarians.

Schools that sign up for the project will receive curriculum materials to organize their own 'Classroom Assembly on Electoral Reform'. Using the materials provided, teachers will have the opportunity to engage their students in a discussion around the democracy we have now – and the type of democracy we want in the future. At the conclusion of the assembly module, students will cast votes for the electoral system that best reflects their preferred values and outcomes. Data from both components will be analyzed and incorporated into a final report to be presented to the Citizens' Assembly in February 2007.

| The Students' Assembly in the news, press information
| Frequently asked questions about the Students' Assembly
| Why run an Assembly? And other good questions
| Our funders and partners
| Our 103 Students' Assembly members

The Students' Assembly on Electoral Reform is a program produced in collaboration by three organizations:

Student Vote Canada provides students under the voting age with an opportunity to participate in a non-partisan parallel election experience, during an official election period. The goal of the program is to promote active citizenship and build a habit of electoral participation among young Canadians. The program has operated during five elections: 2003 Ontario, 2004 Alberta, and 2005 BC provincial elections, as well as the 2004 and 2006 federal election. In less than three years, more than 1.1 million students across Canada have cast a 'practice ballot in the program. | More...

The Planning Desk is an evolving studio for public systems design. Bringing together creative strategists, researchers and designers to improve the character, quality and efficacy of citizen-state interactions, we work with a range of clients and partners on projects which foster civic expression, social change and add to our common quality of life. | More...

The Students' Commission of Canada is a national charitable organization that is run by youth in partnership with adults. We have been creating innovative, effective and educational programs for youth since 1991. We work to improve the development, health and wellbeing of marginalized youth and create opportunities for particularly disadvantaged youth, to take concrete action on issues that affect them. In a setting that operates under our Four Pillars: Respect, Listen, Understand, Communicate,T our goal is to encourage young people to put their ideas into action and to provide youth with a voice by making the tools and resources accessible to them that would not otherwise be available. | More...