Civic Engagement Forum, 2005

Background

In 2004, the Richmond City Council approved the 2004-2010 Richmond Intercultural Strategic Plan and Work Program prepared by the Richmond Intercultural Advisory Committee. Strategic Direction #4 in the Plan would “address participation gaps observed in Provincial, Federal, City and stakeholder events adn electoral process to facilitate immigrant involvement.”

Back in May 2003, after the last civic election, CES was invited to give a presentation at the RIAC meeting to share our experience in encouraging civic participation, including voting. We prepared a position paper entitled “Recommendations on Enhancing Ethnic Participation in Municipal Affairs” and used it as the base for our presentation. The presentation was well received by the RIAC.

In early 2005, with the Plan approved, the RIAC again invited CES to meet with their sub-committee regarding Strategic Direction #4. The idea of a civic engagement forum was discussed. After a couple of planning meetings, the decision was made to hold the forum at the Richmond City Hall in September 2005. While the forum was open to all, community organizations were specifically invited to come and share their experience and ideas about engaging Richmond citizens.

More than 70 citizens participated in the forum, including members of the general public, representatives of community organizations, city councillors, and various community leaders. They interacted actively with the guest speakers and contributed a lot to the breakout discussion groups. Participants were also given a handout that contained various resources and further reading suggestions in relation to civic engagement.

At the end of the forum, CES President Michael Yue shared with the participants his vision of forming a strategic partnership between community organizations in Richmond to enhance citizen participation in all dimensions. Interested citizens were asked to indicate their interest in being part of this partnership, which Michael tentatively called the “Richmond Civic Participation Network”. You can come back to this website to find out more about the future development of this vision.

(Read the Richmond Review article about this forum.)

Part 1: Guest Speaker Panel

The forum began with a guest speaker panel to introduce participants to various issues around civic engagement. John Rose from the Kwantlen University College talked about observations and recommendations of enhancing immigrant political participation, based on a local research project. David Weber from the City Clerk’s Office explained local government processes and the channels of participation for citizens. He also urged everyone to vote in the next civic election to be held in November 2005 (see more resources about the civic election). Lastly, Michael Yue from the Civic Education Society shared their experience in promoting civic participation and enhancing civic awareness (Read Michael’s speech).

Everett MacKenzie, RIAC member, introducing guest speaker panel.

Mayor of Richmond, Malcolm Brodie, welcoming participants and giving his support of civic engagement.

David Weber, City Cler’s Office, speaking about local government processes.

Michael Yue, President of the Civic Education Society, sharing their experience in encouraging civic participation.
Part 2: Breakout Discussion Groups

Participants chose to join 5 different breakout groups to discuss the following topics of civic engagement.

• Defining and Measuring Civic Engagement and Participation
• Roles and Responsibilities of Community Organizations and Leaders in Encouraging and Facilitating Civic Engagement
• Roles and Responsibilities of Local Government in Encouraging and Facilitating Civic Engagement
• Development of New Community Leaders and Movers of Civic Engagement
• Issues of Programming, Resources, and Partnership