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Your Voice Matters

We aspire to leverage the influence of local media to promote critical thinking and active participation. The Democracy Project’s initial phase involved running a series of advertisements across Metroland’s community and daily newspapers, and websites. The ads included thought-provoking questions, which we hoped would capture diverse voices and opinions — embracing the essence of democracy. We were keen to observe whether our readers would recognize differing perspectives and potentially explore alternative viewpoints or, at the very least, respect others’ entitlement to differing opinions. Moving forward, we will maintain our engagement with readers, attentively listening to their feedback. We will actively challenge misleading and unsupported assertions, ensuring our platform remains a conduit for diverse voices to be heard.

In addition, we engage with a Community Advisory Council in the markets that we serve to hear voices from the community. Each advisory council consists of dozens of community leaders and influencers in the fields of government, business, education, health care, policing, advocacy, and social justice. Torstar and Metroland aim to gather intelligence from the many advisory councils. Numerous stories have been explored based on feedback from this group.

Watch this website for additional information on projects that will enable you to share your opinions, learn from others and participate in the Democracy Project.

Below are three of the questions and some of the responses we received.

“All our freedoms are worth fighting for! Our freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom to protest, freedom over medical decisions, freedom of our nations autonomy, freedom of travel, freedom to choose our financial institutions, freedom to educate our children according to what we believe, freedom for parents to make decisions for their children, freedom to vote for whomever we want to represent us in government, freedom to carry firearms if registered, freedom to choose where you want to live, freedom to choose our profession, freedom to own a home, etc.”
“Every freedom set out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is worth fighting for, from fundamental freedoms to democratic rights to mobility rights to legal rights (including the right to bail) and to, especially, equality rights.”
“I want to see religious freedom and diversity respected, the safeguarding of racial and sexual equality, reproductive rights, and academic freedom. What's happening in the U.S. is deeply disturbing and hard to believe. But we also need to rein in the ‘callout’ culture. Let's make North America civil again.”
“Real democracy. Access to accurate information; social, cultural, environmental, and economic justice; human rights — freedom to speak against injustices; for equality; for inclusion; freedom to speak truth to power and to have reversals of bad legislation; freedom to speak out against capitalism and neoliberal ideology.”
“Freedom to choose my own path, within the laws; freedom to hold opinions not widely accepted by our society, and the right to agree/disagree with those opinions. Everything in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
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Helpful Links

https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/
https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/how-rights-protected/guide-canadian-charter-rights-freedoms.html

“Who should decide how your children are educated? Parents are responsible of course; teachers are employed by us. We should give them the right to expel obnoxious children; they should not be at the mercy of malicious children or their parents. We need teachers to understand critical thinking and conduct their classes accordingly. Many adults have lost their ability to think for themselves, and just yearn for acceptance on social media. Some teachers themselves may have to learn how you use their brain for themselves and the benefit of Western society. Why are children not learning their times tables?”
“Yes, I think that we should let the educators educate the children, not the politicians. It is disgusting what is going on in our schools. Thank you.”
“Who should decide how your children are educated? Educators; those who are professionally trained and have the expertise to understand the learning process. Too often, shortsighted folks get to make decisions. We have a private school alumnus as minister of public education; he hasn't got a clue.”
“One hundred per cent not the parents, who do not think beyond their own child. The government should decide and enlist experts in education.”
“Parents should have a huge say in what their children are learning. Should it be any other way?”
“Who should decide how your children are educated? Parents have their own personal agenda and that makes it difficult. The different boards of education have the hopeful experience to make those decisions, not individual parents. If they wish, they can send their children to a private school, but the public education system has to be dealt with on many issues and levels as to what is best.”
“Definitely not the parents. The government should decide in consultation with experts.”
“School trustees, parent councils and school boards working collaboratively.”
“The educational system. Not politicians, or premiers or religious leaders. It is the teaching profession who are responsible for guiding our children to a fulfilling adulthood. It is only when the aforementioned ‘leaders’ get involved that education and curricula become tainted.”
“Their parents. The State may offer guidance on the matter, in loco parentis, but the final decision rests with parents. As students age, they should become more involved in their own educational choices, starting around Grade 7.”
“Professional educators under universal standards and application of best practices backed by research.”
“I'm OK with the existing public school system we have in place in Ontario. Nothing being taught here would cause me to remove my kids from a lesson.”
“Persons with experience and expertise in education.”
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Helpful Links

https://www.ontario.ca/page/ministry-education
https://www.ontario.ca/page/education-ontario
https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/fb3a7c18-90af-453e-bc0a-a76ecc471862?wbdisable=true

“Who should vote? Anyone aged 16 or older that has passed a standardized civics test.”
“Message to ALL Canadians: I personally, and all my family, cherish and practise the right and obligation to vote. Locally, provincially, and federally. I try to keep my representatives aware of my views! We are among the most privileged as Canadians to dwell in this country when all around the world whole nations are struggling, limiting, or persecuting their citizens. We should be aiming to make voting more than this privilege but to consider it an obligation.”
“All citizens over 16 years old.”
“I would like to see municipal elections in Ontario return to in-person paper voting, where scrutineers can watch the count happen.”
“Any Canadian citizen over 18 years of age.”
“Voting should be mandatory. A law with legal penalties for failure to exercise your rights.”
“Eligible voters. I hope voting online and mail-in is an option. Many seniors like me find it difficult to get to a voting station in person.”
“I would like to see some changes under these two guiding principles: Firstly, age is no indication of wisdom or intelligence; Secondly, voting is about tomorrow, not about going back to the past (especially a fantasized one). So, I would like to see the voting age start at 16. And, although I know this won't fly, let's end voting at 75.”
“Everyone over 18 years should vote. I mean everyone should do this. It is a privilege to vote.”
“Your question absolutely terrifies me. Our country is one of the most democratic in the world. We have worked hard to make it as easy as possible for people to vote. The only appropriate answer to the question is ‘everyone should vote.’ The only possible exclusion would be by age, and on that note, it does seem odd that 16-year-olds are allowed to operate powerful machines at extreme speeds but are not allowed to vote. But to answer the question, everyone should vote, having reached the age of majority and being a citizen of the geographical area in which the election is being held.”
“Everyone, including youth under 18. Decisions shape their future.”
“I think that only people over age 18 who have an IQ over 100 and are not incarcerated or in a mental hospital should have the right to vote. There should be a fine for qualified people who do not vote.”
“The answer I get from many people who do not vote is that their one vote will not make a difference. Yet, they complain about the results. They will not take the time to vote but they will take the time to participate in public demonstrations protesting decisions made by those elected. Presumably, they are up to date and knowledgeable about current affairs. I doubt that many of them really are. The uninformed will vote as their parents or friends advise. Mandatory voting is not the answer. Take the time to become informed. Read political articles in the newspapers, listen to the news, attend candidates’ meetings and debates. Then arrive at your own conclusions, which may not necessarily be the same as your parents or friends. This is democracy in action where every one of us has a say in the Government of Canada. Get out and vote.”
“Anyone 18 years or older.”
“Everyone over 18.”
“It really is difficult for me to respond respectfully. That's because the total lack of respect for our rights and privileges in this country is evident in the abysmal voter turnout in this country. Voting should be mandatory. A law with legal penalties for failure to exercise your rights. Non-voters should be forced to attend education sessions to explain their anti-social behaviour. Voting age should be lowered to 16 years of age. Harassment of elected officials should be a criminal offence so as to increase the diversity and number of potential candidates. Terrorism, a criminal offence already, should have its definition broadened to include the misogynistic behaviour exhibited on a daily basis against the non-male gender citizens in our society. Every resident in Canada should attend mandatory education sessions to learn about the social contract that exists in Canada. If the above sounds authoritarian, I will reluctantly accept that label.”
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Helpful Links

https://www.elections.on.ca/en/voting-in-ontario.html
https://www.ontario.ca/page/municipal-elections
https://www.elections.ca/home.aspx

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