Page 212 - Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

Toronto Toronto Planning Review Panel The Toronto Planning Review Panel is a group of Toronto residents brought together to learn about, discuss, and provide input to City Planning staff on important city planning issues. The members of the Toronto Planning Review Panel are selected through a Civic Lottery in which thousands of invitations are sent to randomly selected households across Toronto. Invitations are distributed across the city in rough proportion to the population living in the different areas of Toronto. They are transferable to anyone aged 18 or over living in the household. Those who receive a letter are asked to donate their time as a form of public service. Volunteers are not offered payment to participate, but any cost incurred (such as childcare, eldercare, food and travel) will be covered by the City. In November 2017, 10,000 randomly-selected Toronto households received a letter in the mail from the Planning Division inviting them to volunteer to become a member of the Panel. Over 425 Torontonians applied, and 32 were randomly selected to sit on the Panel, in a manner that ensured proportionate representation of Torontonians of different ages, genders, household tenures, and geographies, proportionate representation of racialized people, as well as guaranteed inclusion of Indigenous and disabled individuals. The Panel’s recruitment method reaches out beyond those who usually participate in a standard public meeting and brings in the voices of individuals who often do not. 210 A Project of the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF)