Michael Boda was one of four expert panelists at the Sept. 17 event.

On Sept. 17, the Diefenbaker Canada Centre hosted a public panel discussion on the problems facing modern Canadian democracy.

The forum, entitled “Democracy: Own It?” was held to celebrate the fourth annual Canada’s Democracy Week and focused on the ways in which Canadians can take ownership of the democratic process.

The panelists were Saskatchewan’s Chief Electoral Officer Michael Boda, University of Regina sessional instructor Tina Beaudry-Mellor, John Courtney, Senior Policy Fellow at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and StarPhoenix reporter Betty-Ann Adam.

Now in its second year, the forum was moderated by Michael Atkinson, director of the Diefenbaker Canada Centre.

The first panelist to speak was Boda, who talked about the importance of voting and potential solutions to the issue of low voter turnout.

“Electoral participation is a major concern for me,” Boda said. “I don’t think it’s going to come as news to anyone that voter turnout has been declining across the country in recent decades.”

Voter turnout has fallen from nearly 83 per cent in 1990 to around 66 per cent in 2011.

“Voters tend to come from certain groups and demographics, which means politicians can tailor messages and policies to groups which they know vote, leaving other groups to suffer the effects,” Boda said. “The interest of certain groups may not be represented.”

Boda said that when people choose not to vote, it devalues the right to vote for all citizens. This behavior, he said, may encourage politicians to ignore non-voters.

“To sustain an electoral process, and to own it, there needs to be a broader and equal distribution of all age groups in the province,” Boda said, stressing the importance of maintaining “electoral stewardship” and taking ownership of democracy.

Elections Saskatchewan, in partnership with the Diefenbaker Canada Centre, has recently launched four provincially-focused standalone educational modules targeted for grades four to eight. The topics for these modules include: the structure of Saskatchewan’s provincial government; why informed citizenship is important and why citizens should engage with their communities; the federation; the constitution and the delegation of powers between federal and provincial governments; and the electoral process, which will include mock elections.

By increasing civic education and encouraging ownership of the democratic process, the modules are designed to instil electoral stewardship in elementary school students.

Boda also said that Elections Saskatchewan is “making it a priority that every voter will know when and how to vote in the next provincial election, and they will know what ID they need to bring with them to the polls.”

In 2011, Boda was made Chief Elections Officer of Elections Saskatchewan. The organization is responsible for planning, organizing and implementing provincial elections.

The second panelist to talk was Beaudry-Mellor, who discussed democracy’s broader implications.

“Democracy is more than a type of government,” Beaudry-Mellor said. “Instead, I define democracy as a type of society. Focusing our conversation only on government limits the range of possibilities for optimum results.”

Beaudry-Mellor said that a true democracy is “more than a seat count” and requires competing perspectives in boardrooms, classrooms and the news media.

“If the rest of the cogs of society are not working toward the democratic ideal, it all falls down,” Beaudry-Mellor said.

Courtney spoke next, where he talked about how civic involvement is shifting away from formal political processes and toward grassroots and social media activism.

“There is a paradox in our country,” he said. “At the very time we have widened the possibility to vote, fewer people are… This comes at a time when access to voting is much better than it ever was.”

During the last federal election, Courtney was responsible for redrawing the 14 federal ridings in Saskatchewan. The project, which involved separating the constituencies into rural and urban, was quite controversial. Courtney said he was pleasantly surprised to hear the public voice their opinion on the matter, but that this enthusiasm rarely translates into voter turnout.

Adam was the final panelist to speak. As might be expected from a journalist, she talked about the importance of the news media and its effects on political involvement.

“I know too many people who don’t watch the news and don’t read the paper,” Adam said. “Democracy begins with knowing what the heck is going on out there.

Nearly 100 students attended the conference. Also present were MLA for Saskatoon Greystone Rob Norris, Langham city councillor Nicole McLaren and Saskatoon city councillor Eric Olauson, all of whom were encouraged by the panel to weigh in on the issue of democracy.

“I wasn’t supposed to get elected,” Olauson said. “I was a 26-year-old shit-kicker who raised some hell out in the suburbs of Saskatoon against a nine-year incumbent who had a name and money and everything else, but we worked hard. If you work hard, there is a lot you can do.”

Canada’s Democracy Week 2014 took place Sept. 15-21. The event, which encourages young Canadians to learn more about the importance of democracy, was inspired by the United Nations International Day of Democracy on Sept. 15. The United Nations has recognized democracy day since 2007.

The event also coincided with John George Diefenbaker Day on Sept. 18.

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Photo: Katherine Fedoroff/Photo Editor