Yukoners aged 16 years old and up can expect to get an invite for a survey on citizens’ assemblies.
According to the Jan. 11 release from the Yukon Legislative Assembly, the Yukon Bureau of Statistics is conducting the survey on behalf of the legislative assembly’s special committee on electoral reform.
The committee is tasked with examining electoral reform and reporting its findings and advice to the legislative assembly.
The release indicates the survey invite will come by email or mail from the bureau. It will include an individualized unique personal identification number to participate in the survey.
In early 2022, the bureau ran a survey on electoral systems. In the release, the current survey will look at the potential use of a citizens’ assembly to assess electoral systems and to recommend whether the current system should continue to be used or another system adopted.
The release defines a citizens’ assembly as “an independent, non-partisan body formed of randomly selected individuals from a pool of citizens to deliberate on important issues.”
As part of the committee’s mandated examination of electoral reform, it has also collected written submissions and held public hearings with expert witnesses and the public online and in communities across the territory.
At a virtual hearing on April 22, 2022, two representatives from Fair Vote Yukon, a self-described non-partisan citizen’s movement, had asked legislators for a citizens’ assembly on electoral reform. During a hearing in Whitehorse on Sept. 7, 2022, several attendees called for some form of a citizens’ assembly to deal with the question of electoral reform instead of the committee.
The committee’s reporting deadline has been extended to the 2023 spring sitting of the Yukon Legislative Assembly to allow the committee to seek more input on citizens’ assemblies before making its final recommendations.
Before presenting its final report to the legislative assembly, the committee will review information gathered through this survey.
The survey opens on Jan. 12.
Anyone who does not receive an invitation by Jan. 19 is asked to contact the bureau by email at ybs.operations@yukon.ca or by phone at 1-866-527-8266.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com