Public Display of Democracy: The Three Cities Dialogue

Democracy is an art.

At this year’s Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, Diaspora Dialogues and Toronto-based engagement firm MASS LBP invite the public to explore the implications of growing polarization in Toronto through a new interactive exhibit designed by Toronto artist Mitchell Chan of Studio F-Minus and an extensive public dialogue facilitated by MASS LBP.

During the all-night Public Display of Democracy: The Three Cities Dialogue, the public’s participation in the dialogue will serve to help 44 randomly selected members of Toronto's first Residents' Reference Panel prepare for their deliberations, as they will go on to consider and propose public recommendations to reverse this difficult trend.

New research in The Three Cities Within Toronto report from University of Toronto, written with J. David Hulchanski, shows that the gap between rich and poor across the city has been growing for more than thirty years, with surprising implications for the health and well-being of all Torontonians. The geography of this gap will form the basis for Mitchell Chan’s exhibit.

The public’s contributions during Public Display of Democracy: The Three Cities Dialogue will be used to inform Toronto’s first-ever Residents’ Reference Panel. Members of the Panel will meet during three daylong sessions in November and December. Panellists will be randomly selected in October from respondents to a 5,000 household ‘Civic Lottery’ — where randomly selected households will receive an invitation encouraging a member of the household to volunteer. The Panelists will be selected to match the age and gender profile of the City, and one member will be selected from each of the City’s 44 wards.

WHAT: Public Display of Democracy: The Three Cities Dialogue at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche
WHEN: Saturday, October 1, 2011 from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM
WHERE: Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, 209 Victoria Street
CONTACT: Natalie Kertes, natalie@diasporadialogues.com, 416-944-1101 x 250

MASS LBP is a new kind of advisory firm which works with visionary governments and corporations to make better decisions while deepening and improving their efforts to engage and consult with citizens. Fundamentally we believe in people. Given the opportunity to participate in a thorough, fair and inclusive process, citizens are ready to provide constructive advice, offering officials the intelligence, perspective and sensitivity that difficult public issues require. Our work goes far beyond polling and focus groups. From conception to execution to evaluation, MASS LBP designs and delivers highly innovative engagement strategies that increase public understanding, legitimacy and support for complex decisions and policy choices.

Public Display of Democracy is made possible with the support of the Metcalf Foundation and Citizenship and Immigration Canada through Inter-Action.

Mitchell F Chan is an installation and new media artist whose work explores the edges of human perception and intuitiveness. Working in this vein, Studio F-Minus made their American museum debut in 2010, exhibiting a large installation at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. as part of their retrospective on photography pioneer Eadweard Muybridge. Back home in Canada, Chan’s work continues to attract national media attention for its innovative approach to materials and technology, and their ability to sculpt new human experiences and concepts. Most recently, his sculptural work in the medium of water vapor was exhibited in the iconic John Hancock Tower, as part of an exhibition re-imagining the possibilities of public artworks in the city of Chicago.

Neighbourhood Change and Building Inclusive Communities from Within is a community-university research alliance based at the University of Toronto. Supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, with a focus on how neighbourhoods are changing and how community development initiatives can improve urban life, our work is focused on four themes: 1) trends, how neighbourhoods are changing since 1970; 2) processes, how the trends can be explained; 3) consequences, what the implications are; and 4) policy options – what policies and programs can effectively address undesirable trends. The website www.NeighbourhoodChange.ca provides access to our research papers, summary reports, and related maps, as well as an online version of the 2010 report, The Three Cities Within Toronto: Income Polarization among Toronto’s Neighbourhoods, 1970-2005.