While representative government is now the norm, what is now Canada has a tradition of participatory governance.
“[W]hat is now Canada has a tradition of participatory governance, one especially enshrined in the history of Indigenous peoples. There are over 600 First Nations communities in Canada today, and one should not make generalizations that apply to all. But the overarching procedures and principles of Indigenous governance stressed consensus and participation....
Long before European settlement, Indigenous peoples had developed sophisticated mechanisms of government and international relations, and the basic principle of this system — consensus decision-making — is of continuing relevance to the modern age (see also Self-Government: Indigenous peoples and Territorial Government in Canada).” (From “Nova Scotia: The Cradle of Canadian Parliamentary Democracy”, Canadian Encyclopedia)
If direct democracy was the first turning point,
and representative democracy and responsible government the second,
mass democracy was the third milestone in democracy's evolution. If the people were to choose their representatives, who made up the people?
And making each vote count would be the next step...
It is time for a great leap forward, as in the Billy Bragg song...
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