Cross-posted from Eye Weekly.
The first in a series of community consultation meetings on the People, Dogs and Parks Strategy takes place tonight in Scarborough. According to the Toronto Star, the meetings are generating a bit of controversy, not because there are now nearly 250,000 dogs in our city and we’re running out of space for them to poop and play, but because the public meetings themselves will take a new approach to consultation.
Instead of having one large meeting with a couple hundred people, a small percentage of which actually get their thoughts heard, the city has decided to have a number of smaller meetings (four in all) in different areas of the city. Participants will sit at round tables and discuss their concerns and ideas in groups. Nonpartisan facilitators at each table will take notes to ensure that everyone’s thoughts get recorded.
This is the same style of public consultation that the city used to gather public feedback last month on new taxes, and it didn’t receive glowing praise. The new style of meeting may not be perfect, but I think it’s a big improvement over the kind that sees 200 people clamoring to speak, one at a time, into a microphone. The problem with the public meetings on “revenue tools†was that attendees were so angry that they didn’t want to speak to anybody but the big wigs (Chief Financial Officer Joe Pennachetti, and councillors in the room). Everyone seemed skeptical that if their opinions would actually be heard by those in power if they didn’t look them in the eye and tell them exactly what they thought.
But the new style of public meetings appear more in line with what a variety of individuals and community groups suggested the city needed to do to improve civic engagement in Toronto back in March and April. Holding smaller meetings in different areas of the city so that they’ll be easier for people who live in neighbourhoods outside the downtown core to attend was at the top of the list. And one benefit of holding small group discussions at tables is that different language groups can work together and express their concerns to a bilingual facilitator who will then be able to pass their ideas on to others.
Are there other things the city could be doing to improve community consultation meetings? Have the meetings you’ve attended been productive? I’m interested to know what readers think.
In the meantime, if you have something to say about dogs and parks, here’s a list of the meetings being held this week:
Monday
Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Location: Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Dr.
Tuesday
Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Location: Humberwood Community Centre, 850 Humberwood Blvd. (Etobicoke)
Wednesday
Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Location: City Hall, Rotunda
Thursday
Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Location: North York Memorial Hall, 5110 Yonge St.
photo by Matthew Blackett
