Group Chat: Making Sense of Canada’s Democracy With a Few Friends

Across the world, democracies are grappling with declining trust, political polarization and questions about how to involve citizens more meaningfully in public decision-making. One response has been the rise of deliberative mini-publics: innovative processes that bring together representative groups of ordinary citizens, selected by lot, to learn, deliberate and make recommendations on complex legal and policy issues.

In this episode of Group Chat recorded live at the Samara Centre for Democracy, host Sabreena Delhon sits down with Dr. Seána Glennon, Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law. Dr. Glennon introduces us to the idea of deliberative mini-publics and explores how they are being used globally as a tool of democratic renewal. She will focus in particular on Ireland’s internationally recognised Citizens’ Assembly process, which played a pivotal role in shaping the reform of the country’s abortion law following a period of polarisation and political paralysis. Drawing on these experiences, we turn to the Canadian context: what can the Irish model teach us about tackling complex and divisive issues, and could similar approaches strengthen democracy in Canada?

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In this episode of Group Chat, we bring together civil society and academic perspectives to consider how advances in AI and declining transparency from social media platforms are shaping Canada's democratic culture. How can citizens be equipped to navigate online spaces and engage with accurate and trustworthy political information online? How can our government respond to this moment of rapid change with effective and common-sense methods to safeguard our country’s security? Host Sabreena Delhon is joined by Beatrice Wayne (Samara Centre for Democracy), Anatoliy Gruzd (Social Media Lab, Toronto Metropolitan University), and Ana Brandusescu (McGill University) for this panel discussion recorded live at the Samara Centre for Democracy as part of Toronto Tech Week.

Resources

Death on the Order Paper - Canadian Bar Association

Government of Canada launches AI Strategy Task Force and public engagement on the development of the next AI strategy

Two-thirds of Canadians have experimented with generative AI, but most don’t understand its impacts - Toronto Metropolitan University’s Social Media Lab

Open Letter to the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation From Civil Society Organizations and Individuals Opposing “National Sprint” Consultation on AI Strategy - People’s Consultation on AI

The Samara Centre for Democracy’s Verified Project

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Parental anxiety, even desperation about keeping kids safe online is driving countries to adopt legislation that limits access to online spaces based on age. This type of legislation is called age-gating and countries like the United States, France and Brazil are all exploring some form of it. Here in Canada, the federal government and a number of provinces are seriously considering age-gating legislation as well. In this episode, host Sabreena Delhon is joined by fellow team members at the Samara Centre, Beatrice Wayne (Director of Research and Policy) and Alex MacIsaac (Research Manager) to discuss what age-gating actually looks like in practice. Is age-gating enough? Can we do better?

Group Chat is produced by the Samara Centre for Democracy, Canada’s leading non-partisan charity dedicated to strengthening and protecting our democracy. Visit samaracentre.ca to explore more of our shows and support this work with a donation.

Visit our Episode Page for Resources.

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In this period of global democratic backsliding we’re seeing political pressures in the United States reverberate in Canada. Top American scholars are moving here while Canadian researchers are facing growing scrutiny over what they study. What does this all mean for the health of our democracy?

In this episode we partnered with the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences on Re-imagining Academic Freedom and Advocacy, to explore these issues in depth with Debra Thompson (McGill University), Eve Haque (York University), and our own Beatrice Wayne (Samara Centre for Democracy).

Group Chat is produced by the Samara Centre for Democracy, Canada’s leading non-partisan charity dedicated to strengthening and protecting our democracy. Visit samaracentre.ca to explore more of our shows and support this work with a donation. Special thanks to the Flanagan Foundation and the Rideau Hall Foundation for their support.

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Go behind the scenes of the Group Chat podcast with a BONUS episode featuring host Sabreena Delhon in conversation with Executive Producer Debbie Pacheco. This episode launches our Group Chat Listening Party guide - think book club but a podcast.
Special thanks to the McConnell Foundation.

Host a Group Chat Listening Party

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