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Message

De:	Terri Willard [ Profil ]
Sujet:	Consultation-Happy Canada
Envoyé:	Nov 7th, 2003 - 21:58:00

	I was intrigued by the questions asked this week re: ** Have you been encouraged to get involved in policy and decision making at any level? Canada has to rank as having more consultations each year than any other country on the planet. When I moved here from the U.S. seven years ago, I couldn't believe the number of different workshops, roundtables, commissions, consultations, town halls, etc. were going on at all levels of government at any given moment in time. I always used to think that policy was something that was reserved for experts. But here, it's a kind of general dialogue open to all. It's gotten to the point that the government has even created a special Web site (http://www.consultingcanadians.gc.ca/) to let people know what national level consultations are going on and how to participate. In addition, there are a number of quasi-governmental (in the sense of having good connections to the government) civil society organizations who frequently hold complementary consultations - like the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (http://www.unesco.ca/) and the UN Association of Canada (http://www.unac.org/). These groups, in particular, are EXCELLENT at engaging young people in consultations to develop Canadian positions in international policy development. They develop special materials about the topic and often hold workshops in cities around the country to make sure that they hear from a variety of different young people. All in all, I think it helps young people to develop confidence in themselves and to build interest in continuing to participate in policy consultations as they grow older. Terri Willard Project Manager Knowledge Communications International Institute for Sustainable Development http://www.iisd.org/

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