The Canadian Project for Government Responsiveness

To:  The Canadian Federal Government

It has become strikingly clear lately that Canadians are fed up with their political system and are tired with their voices not being heard in Ottawa. Canadians today are more connected than ever, most of us can access the Internet on our cell phone or black berry, yet our democracy has yet to catch up with technological innovation. It is a sluggish system that seems too distant or disconnected from out lives to even bother dealing with or trying to influence. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that any communication you try to have with a government official occurs in the time span of weeks instead of hours. The most you’ll usually get for trying to introduce an original idea into the system is a pat on the head and a sweep to the side so more lame and tired legislation can be brought into effect. I don’t know about you, but this isn’t the democracy I voted for.
The solution is what I like to call The Canadian Project for Government Responsiveness. What happens in the halls of power in our country is clear to see in the media, but the problem is the media is extremely one sided, this would be a way for the Canadian people to instantly have their voices heard in by the people who run the country. The project would work in a similar way to social content sites such as Reddit and Digg. Citizens could make statements, promote nationwide polls, or link to youtube video of them giving their own opinions on current events. People would then be able to vote on things that best represent their own opinions. If Users wanted they could add party affiliation and age to allow MP’s to see a breakdown of what their party voters are supporting and what they are not. The main problem with public discourse in this sort of public forum setting is a lack of expertise and knowledge of the common people, however the up and down vote system would fixes these problems as the most consciousness raising, knowledgeable, and thought provoking opinions are almost always voted to the top of the web page, while the most asinine, and ignorant opinions are almost always buried at the bottom of the page. All the stories that make the top front page would be presented to the government the next day. MP’s could argue and discuss the opinions presented and the common people would have their line of collaborative and democratic communication into the place where it matters most. The best part of this system would be the fact that it would be almost free to operate, costing on the scale of tens of thousands instead of millions. Using sites and tools already available such as youtube, reddit, and facebook this project could be integrated seamlessly into people’s digital life. You could influence government while riding the bus on your way to work or sitting Starbucks on your lunch break. Governance would no longer be distant and stubborn; it would instead fit into the palm of your hand. This is the democracy that we, The Canadian People want.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The The Canadian Project for Government Responsiveness Petition to The Canadian Federal Government was created by and written by Mitchel McNee (mitchel.mcnee@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.