Citizens (book review)

This book is part of the Canadian Democratic Audit series (9 volumes of publication), which includes Elections, Political Parties, Legislatures, Federalism, Advocacy Groups, Communications Technology, The Courts, and Cabinets and First Ministers. The Audit project aims at examining the state of Canadian democracy and considering where it is working well, where it is falling short, what the possibilities for reform are, and how it can be improved. As "citizens are at the core of the any meaningful definition of democracy, [...] they must be included in [such] an audit."

This volume attempts to answer 2 key questions about democratic citizenship in Canada:

1. How engaged are Canadians in the country's democratic life?
2. Which Canadians are most - and least - engaged?

The audit of citizen engagement (or participation) is presented in the various chapters that deal with how much attention Canadians pay to politics, what Canadians know about politics, whether Canadians can get by with less information, how much Canadians participate in politics, and how civic-minded Canadians are. The authors make use of available data from major surveys (including the Canadian Election Studies; National Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participting; and World Values Survey) and localized studies to find answers to these questions.

The authors conclude that a core group of highly engaged Canadians are at the forefront of casting their ballots during election times, volunteering their time with and donating to community non-profit organizations, learning about politics and social issues, and joining community and political organizations to exert their views and values. Of the rest of the Canadian citizenry, many have been less or never engaged, notably the younger generation, women, visible minorities, and the poor of our society. So while there is something to cheer about Canadian democracy (based on the persistence of the "core group"), there is indeed much to be worried in terms of "democractic deficits or divides".

One thread surfaces out of this volume of assessing the civic engagement of Canadians - the interrelatedness of civic/political awareness, knowledge and participation. The ultimate question is how to make social and political issues relevant to people's lives. Much remains to be done to bridge the "gaps" of participation. There is no simple solution to this, and we need to try diverse methods and assess the impact of these experiments on enhancing civic engagement.

Labour Movement At A Turning Point?

The BC Liberals government, as predicted by many, has passed a legislation to stop the teacher strike. Not surprisingly, the BCTF and other unions have pledged to continue their resistance. This war between a right-wing government and the left-wing unions started the day when the NDP was driven out of power by the Liberals, and we are not even close to seeing an end to it. All evidence indicates that the government has no intention to step back; it has been a clear policy of the BC Liberals to "crush" the powerful unions. With legislative weapon in their hands, and not a bit hesitating to use it, the BC Liberals seem to be winning the various battles so far. Is labour movement in BC at a turning point? Or is this only a temporary political setback, until the NDP returns to power?