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Politics and Justice without borders Global Dialogue 2007  theme
Building global communities for all life
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Comparing the Scale to the CCRF and UDHR The Global Community believes that
the introduction of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has
been a great step in humanity's evolution to better itself. But now is
time to leave it behind and reach to our next step, that is, the Scale
of Human and Earth Rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights resides in the fact that it gives equal emphasis to cultural rights, economic and social rights, and civil and political rights. The Global Community asks how meaningful is the right to life or to participation in political life if the ecological base (the base of life) and the global life-support systems are seriously threatened: * wilderness is vastly disappearing; species of the fauna and flora becoming extinct The Global Community found evident that the ecological base is the essential prerequisite for the effectiveness and exercise of all rights recognized for human beings. The stewardship of the ecological base has to be given priority before the fulfilment of various economic and social wishes. Demands resulting from the socio-economic system of a particular country have to find their limits in the protection of the global ecosystem. Vital interests of future generations have to be considered as having priority before less vital interests of the present generation. Supply chains have to be designed in a way, that the goods can enter after usage or consumption into natural or industrial recycling processes. If serious damages to persons, animals, plants and the ecosystem cannot be excluded, an action or pattern of behaviour should be refrained from. A measure for supplying goods or services should choose a path which entails the least possible impact on the ecological and social system concerned. This way functioning proven systems will not be disturbed, and unnecessary risks will not be taken. Supply strategies consuming less resources should have preference before those enhancing more resource consumption. When there is a need to find a solution to a problem or a concern, a sound solution would be to choose a measure or conduct an action, if possible, which causes reversible damage as opposed to a measure or an action causing an irreversible loss.
Following the development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, nations throughout the world developed their own version in line with
the Universal Declaration. As an example, in 1982, Prime Minister Trudeau brought
Canada's Constitution home, and with it, the new Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Charter rights are divided into a number of categories: Fundamental Freedoms, Democratic Rights,
Legal Rights, Equality Rights, Official Languages, and Minority Language Educational Rights.
A copy of the Canadian Charter is included here at the end.
Let us now fit the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the key rights of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms onto the six sections of the Scale of Human and Earth Rights Scale of Human and Earth Rights
The Scale of Human and Earth Rights contains six (6) sections. Section 1 has more importance than all other sections below, and so on.
Concerning Sections 1, 2, and 3, it shall be Earth Government highest priority to guarantee these rights to Member Nations and to have proper lesgislation and
implement and enforce global law as described in the Global Constitution. Section 1. Ecological rights and the protection of the global life-support systems Section 2. Primordial human rights
Section 3. The ecological rights, the protection of the global life-support systems and the primordial
human rights of future generations
The following table illustrates the importance of both the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
It is made clear how little importance was given to Sections 1,2,3, and 4 of the Scale of Human and Earth Rights. And it is made clear how urgent
it is to replace both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Charters from all nations by the Scale of Human and Earth Rights.
Here is how the degree of importance was obtained. For instance in Section 1 it was found that parts of Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(see description below)was included as promoting very softly the protection of human life but was not promoting at all the protection of the global life-support systems. Section 1 on the
Scale of Human and Earth Rights promotes both the protection of human life and the global life-support systems. No key rights were found in the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that would promote in any way the protection of human life and that of the global life-support systems. It is a failure of the Canadian Charter to be
in line with the Universal Declaration. And it is a failure of both the Universal Declaration and the Canadian Charter to be in line with the Scale of Human and Earth Rights.
As a result of this failure, a 1% combine importance was recorded in the table. What this means? It means that neither the Universal Declaration
or the Canadian Charter gives any importance to human life and the protection of the global life-support systems.
These results are consistent and in agreement with the fact that democracy hardly survive an overpopulation such as is seen in the United States.
What happens to the idea of the dignity of the human species if this population growth continues at its present rate?
It will be completely destroyed. Democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive overpopulation. Convenience and decency cannot
survive overpopulation. As you put more and more people onto the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears. It doesn't matter
if someone dies, the more people there are, the less one person matters. It would be preferable to split a large population into smaller populations.
To determine rights requires an understanding of needs and reponsibilities and their importance. The Scale of Human and Earth Rights and the Charter of the Global Community are the best guidance for continuing this process. The Scale shows social values in order of importance and so will help us understand the rights of a community. What are the universal needs of a person, family, and that of a global community? Primordial human rights are separate categories from those of ecological rights, community rights, the right of the greatest number of people, economic rights, social rights, cultural rights and religious rights. Ecological and primordial human rights are the only rights that have existed unchanged throughout the evolutionary origin of our species. Any major change would have threatened our very existence. All other human rights listed here are rights created by human beings and can be changed depending of new circumstances; they are not stagnant but are rather flexible and adaptive, and they can evolve. Ecological and primordial human rights of this generation and of future generations are therefore much more important than any other human rights existing now and in the future. Primordial human rights are those human rights that individuals
have by virtue of their very existence as human beings. Primordial human
rights are necessarily human needs but not all human needs are primordial
human rights. Nevertheless there are very specific primordial human needs.
First there are the material needs, the requisites for a dignified life:
Without these primordial human needs one cannot have and enjoy the following non-primordial human needs:
For instance, the existing and future uses of water are constantly challenged; balancing supply and demand is made even harder by the amounts of pollution found in the air, land and waters. A large part of our body is made of water, and we cannot live without water; therefore water is a primordial human right by our very nature. In order to avoid conflicts and wars over drinking (fresh)water, fresh water has been categorized as a primordial human right. Industrial pollution plays a major role in the deterioration of nature but this time the level of pollution is above the carrying capacity of a healthy ecosystem. Pollution also affects significantly human health and all lifeforms on Earth. Every person needs Oxygen to live so clean air is certainly also a primordial human right by our very nature. Morally right actions or policies are those actions that result in the greatest number of people. The Global Community asks how meaningful is the right of the greatest number of people if they agree to the challenge or damage the ecological base of the Earth. The greatest number of people cannot and will not be allowed to supersede the rights of the ecological base of Earth. The Global Community asks how meaningful
is the right to life or to participation in political life if poverty,
gender inequality, destitution and epidemics prevent individuals from enjoying
freedom of movement, freedom to vote, to marry and so on? The Global
Community found evident that economic and social rights
are the essential prerequisite for the effectiveness and exercise of all
other rights (other than ecological and primordial human rights now and in the future) recognized for human beings.
The developing countries are having a harder
time than others to achieve the exercise of these rights on a lasting basis,
with the problems of economic globalization presenting new challenges.
We must therefore beware of enforcing economic rights alone to the detriment
of individual civil rights and the rights of all individuals to decide
their own fate and the future of their country, their political rights.
The universality of human rights recognizes the right of all individuals
to participate in the cultural life of their community and of other country,
to receive education and training, and to be informed. The Global
Community is aware that traditional customs and standards
could burden the sustainability of all life on Earth. They could burden
Earth society or any society forever, and holds individuals in a straitjacket.
We cannot accept that. No one can! There are choices to be made and you
must make them. Cultures can develop and can go on developing. Even religious
beliefs may evolve. We are living now and we are able to
create these changes. We are at least as bright, most certainly brighter,
than the people who were living thousand of years ago. As far as
the Global Community is concerned, cultural and religious
differences cannot be a reason or an excuse or a pretext for not respecting
human rights including and most importantly the ecological rights. Quite
the contrary, all kinds of cultures may promote human rights and especially
cultural rights. They are different in their achievements, but they are
equal in dignity where they are expressions of freedom. At any time
or in any given place, men, women and children use their culture to invent
new ways of making human rights a living reality. Diversity enriches us
if it respects the dignity of each individual, and if it takes account
of human rights as a whole. Security is a primordial human and Earth right. The Global Community has broadened the traditional focus
of the security of nations to include both the security of people as well
as that of the planet. Global security policies include: * every person on Earth has a right to a secure existence, and all states have an obligation to protect those rights Another major source of global unsecurity for people is
the culture of violence in everyday life as it is shown on television screens
and cinemas. The American Way of Life is creating this culture of violence.
An american child at age six year old has seen more violence on television
than any other child of the Middle East over a life span. This culture
of violence infects both industrial and developing countries, rich and
poor. This trend of culture of violence must end. The movie and TV industry
is a threat to global security. The media is responsible for the propagation
of violence through communications. Why has government not done anyhting
to regulate the media industry? Surely everyone understood that on the
Scale of Human and Earth Rights security of the people of any nation is
more important than the human rights related to the freedom of expression
of the media industry. Security of the people and the state is on top of
the Scale. It is part of the primordial human rights. While freedom of
expression is a right found lower on the Scale and is classified partly
as
* Community rights and the right that the greatest number of people has by virtue of its number (50% plus one) and after voting representatives democratically (these rights can be and are usually a part of the constitution of a country) So the freedom of expression of a person is not as important as the security of that person and the security of the state. Consumers' rights impinge on the rights of other humans living in the Global Community. The right to choice is the consumer right that refers to the right to have a range and variety of goods and services at competitive, fair prices and variable, satisfactory quality. In order to assure choice in the developed country markets, governments have implemented trade laws to facilitate cross border transactions and transnational corporations (TNCs) have set up business off shore so they can lessen the cost of the production process. The goods that are available in the developed country markets are provided by slave labour, child labour, sweatshops or in countries that allow the TNCs to forego adhering to pollution or ecological concerns and human rights in pursuit of profit. Labour rights are abused in efforts to earn more profits. This leads to abhorrent working conditions, job insecurity and low living standards (all human rights). Consumers in developed countries have been socialized to want more and more things to consume but have not been socialized to appreciate the impact of their consumption choices on the human rights of other people; that is, they are not being responsible for their decisions. The Global Community has now at hand the method and framework to conduct societal checks and balances of a global sustainable development. A more balance world economy will result of annual checks and balances. Corporations will take their social responsibilities and become involved in designing, monitoring, and implementing these checks and balances. Several corporations have already done so. Results will be taken into account in the evaluation of sustainable development. Corporations are required to expand their responsibilities to include human and Earth rights, the environment, community and family aspects, safe working conditions, fair wages and sustainable consumption aspects. Let us now categorized the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the key rights of the Canadian Charter of Rights Freedoms as they would fit on the Scale of Human and Earth Rights. Of course this is by no mean written in stone. Furthermore, several new Articles (not shown in here) developed by the Global Community have been added to the Sections. For instance, Section 3 is not included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Section 1 is also not really included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet Section 1 is the most important of all. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (CCRF) was also included here as another example of how a Charter can be analyzed with respect to the Scale. Section 1
Section 2
Section 4
Fundamental Freedoms (Section 2)
conscience and religionDemocratic Rights (sections 3, 4 and 5) right to voteMobility Rights (section 6) the right to move to and live in any provinceLegal Rights (sections 7-14) life, liberty, and security of the personEquality Rights (section 15) equal treatment before and under the lawLanguage Rights English and French are the official languages of Canada Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 2 (III) of 10 December 1948 On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories." PREAMBLE Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law, Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations, Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge, Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction. Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Article 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. Article 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law. Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. Article 8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law. Article 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. Article 10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. Article 11. (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed. Article 12. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Article 13. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and
residence within the borders of each state.
Article 14. (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other
countries asylum from persecution.
Article 15. (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
Article 16. (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation
due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found
a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage
and at its dissolution.
Article 17. (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well
as in association with others.
Article 18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Article 20. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly
and association.
Article 21. (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government
of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Article 22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality. Article 23. (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of
employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection
against unemployment.
Article 24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay. Article 25. (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate
for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food,
clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the
right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood,
old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Article 26. (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall
be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary
education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall
be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible
to all on the basis of merit.
Article 27. (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the
cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific
advancement and its benefits.
Article 28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. Article 29. (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone
the free and full development of his personality is possible.
Article 30. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying
for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to
perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms
set forth herein.
Over the past several decades humanity has better itself through the acceptance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by most nations. But now is time to leave it behind and reach to our next step, that is a scale of social values, the Scale of Human and Earth Rights and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. As a first step the Global Community researched and developed the Universal Declaration of Human and Earth Rights to complement for the deficiencies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But it was found to be a useless exercise of adding new statements to the Declaration. Instead, and truly this is the new way of the future, the Global Community researched and developed the statement of rights and responsibilities of a person and of belonging to 'a global community' and to 'the Global Community', the Earth Community, the human family. This was not, at first, meant to replace the Universal Declaration of Human and Earth Rights developed by the Global Community. But the Declaration becomes redundant. Only the statement was necessary. Even the Universal Declaration of Human Rights becomes redundant as it is implicitly included in the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities of a person and of belonging to 'a global community' and to 'The Global Community'. There are a lot more rights and responsibilites found in the Statement than in the Declaration. The Global Community wants to help businesses to be active corporate members of the Global Community, the human family, the Earth Community. You may be eligible to become a citizen of The Global Community. A typical global community may be what a group of people, together, wants it to be. It can be a group of people with the same values. It can be a group of people with the same cultural background, or the same religious background. The people making a global community may be living in many different locations on the planet. With today's communications it is easy to group people in this fashion. It can be a village, or two villages together where people have decided to unite as one global community. The two villages may be found in different parts of the world. It can be a town, a city, or a nation. It can be two or more nations together. A global community could be a group of Africans, maybe NGOs, or maybe businesses, in one(or several) of the nations of Africa, who decided to unite with another group(s), or businesses, situated in Canada, or elsewhere in the world. Together they can grow as a global community and be strong and healthy. Global warming is the highest threat to Earth security and is everyone's business. Terrorism was, and still is, a problem humanity needed to tackle head-on and resolve the best we could, but global warming is by far the greatest threat to security of all people on Earth and to life itself. We have never tackle the problem head-on. We played around the problem and its solution. We know the solution to the problem of global warming, we know what we need to do to make this generation and future generations safe and secure, but we just never do what we really have to do to resolve the problem. The biggest problem is that Canadians and Americans are getting too proud about things that are completely unimportant and missing out on the things that are truly important, and we have been left behind by most other nations on those things that are truly important for the generations to come and to life itself. I advise you to get acquainted with the Scale of Human and Earth Rights and with the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities in this Newsletter. The Global Community is asking North Americans and everyone else on Earth to tackle the problem head-on. We must solve the problem we have with global warming. Oil companies are responsible and accountable of their products from beginning to end. The 'end' for an oil company does not end at the gas pump where a consumer buy your refine products. No! The end for you goes all the way to global warming, to pollution of the environment, to the destruction of the global life-support systems, to taking away lives of future generations, to the destruction of life on Earth. Very much so! The Global Community proposes to ask you to pay a global tax on your products. The tax would be high enough to discourage consumers from buying your products and force you to use viable alternatives. The Governments of the United States and Canada should put a high tax on all oil based products and their derivatives and certainly gasoline should have the highest tax possible. The tax would be a carbon tax for the environment and the global life-support systems. A workable type of Tobin tax should also be in place as it is a powerful instrument to promote sustainable development and force shareholders in moving away from producing oil. The Global Community also proposes to develope a method of raising global taxes, of redistributing incomes to the poorest communities, of providing debt-free technical assistance to non-industrial and developing countries to help them out of poverty and to meet environmental and social standards. The WTO, the World Bank, the IMF, the EU and the UN are worldwide organizations that can and should be used to raise global taxes to redistribute to the poorest and developing nations. Everyone ask how we could rid the world of weapons of mass destruction. Here is a new 'old' way to do it: trading permits. It can be done with greenhouses gases to solve the problem with global warming. What about using a similar technique to get rid of all weapons of mass destruction: nuclear, biological and chemical, and others. How many nations would be interested? The question to ask is would it work? First of all does it work for the greenhouse gases? In connection between human well-being and a sound environment, Earth rights are ecological rights and the rights that human beings have in protecting their global life-support systems. Earth rights are those rights that demonstrate the connection between human well-being and a sound environment. They include individuals and global communities human rights and the rights to a clean environment, and participation in development decisions. We define ecological rights as those rights of the ecosystem of the Earth beyond human purpose. They are those rights that protect and preserve the ecological heritage of the Earth for future generations. The Earth Court of Justice guarantees ecological rights in its Statute. The Court guarantees also the rights to a safe environment and an environment free from environmental degradation. Section 4 on the Scale includes 'direct democracy' Rights of direct democracy As defined in Chapter 10.6.3 of the Global Constitution, direct democracy is a community right. Direct democracy is the right of global citizens to hold referendums on any issue -- and to veto legislation. Direct Democracy implies that: * Global Citizens are willing and able to participate fully in the decision making process on issues that most affect them. Direct democracy is important to sustain life on the planet but its position on the Scale gives it its overall importance. 'Direct democracy' is very much like a voting system based on 'proportional representation'. There are many different aspects of 'direct democracy'. For instance, in a single riding there may be as many as 8 seats and and several candidates running. Parties offer voters a slate of local candidates. Voters can rank candidates of the same party, but may also choose to give support to candidates of different parties. Voters rank as many or as few candidates as they wish. Voters can rank any number of candidates without fear their vote will be wasted by selecting unpopular candidates. A voter’s rankings will be considered in order until that voter’s ballot can be used. When your number one choice is eliminated for lack of support your number two becomes your first choice. When a voter’s ballot is used in support of a given candidate, but that candidate has a surplus of votes, a ballot’s unused portion will be transferred to the voter’s next choice until a ballot’s full value has been used. Most votes will count, little fear of wasting one’s vote, no fear of vote splitting. No need to support a candidate or party you don’t really want for fear of helping elect those you like even less. You can vote authentically. This is freedom for voters. This is how democracy is supposed to work. This voting system empowers voters more than parties because votes are for candidates not for parties. Also, candidate selection will take place at the local riding level, not at party head office. Most importantly, voters will rank candidates of the same party as well as candidates of different parties. It maximizes choice for voters. Competition is not just between candidates of different parties but also between candidates of the same party. This voting system is also a measure of independence from party control and that will make a very significant contribution to greater accountability in government. It will yield a legislature that mirrors the political, social, ethnic, and geographic diversity of a population. Electing candidates in multi-member ridings ensures a broader range of political interests and issues will be represented than is possible under any other system. Preferential voting induces a politics of cooperation, consensus, and civility. Direct democracy comprises a form of democracy and theory of civics wherein all citizens can directly participate in the political decision-making process. Some proposed systems would give people both legislative and executive powers, but most extant systems allow input into the legislative process only. Direct democracy in its traditional form is rule by the people through referenda. The people are given the right to pass laws, veto laws and withdraw support from a representative (if the system has representatives) at any time. Direct democracy in its modern sense is characterized by three pillars: * Initiative The second pillar can include the ability to hold a binding referendum on whether a given law should be scrapped. This effectively grants the populace a veto on government legislation. The third pillar gives the people the right to recall elected officials by petition and referendum. In Canada, the use of citizens' assemblies (also known as an estates-general in the province of Quebec), involving citizen bodies chosen at random, is growing and avoids the disadvantages of older, more plebiscitary forms of direct democracy. The province of British Columbia recently set up a Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform in which members were chosen at random for each riding. The citizens' assembly has just recommended the province use Single Transferable Voting (STV) to elect the provincial legislature. In a referendum conducted on May 17, 2005, 57% of the voters approved by this new system of voting.
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