*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- From: "Lafleur, Martine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: An innovation for the National Assembly of Qué bec: Participation in parliamentary proceedings via t he Internet Date sent: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 09:19:39 -0400 The Committee on Institutions has initiated a pilot project aimed to promote the democratic use of information and communications technology at the National Assembly of Québec. The project makes it possible for the citizens of Québec to participate in the work of the parliamentary committees through the Internet: http://www.assnat.qc.ca/eng The Committee on Institutions is soliciting the opinion of groups and citizens concerning the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) project. This online consultation will involve using a form containing the issues raised in the discussion paper produced by the Committee and entitled Le Québec et la ZLEA : Effets politiques et socio-économiques (available in HTML and PDF formats). As well, a space is provided at the end of the form for comments on any other aspect relating to the Free Trade Area of the Americas. This last portion, which is outside the logic of the National Assembly document, affords Internauts additional opportunity to elaborate on their opinions. The forms are to be forwarded to the Committee secretary by e-mail. The submissions will be read, examined and considered by the Committee before being presented at the public hearings to be held by the Committee on Institutions beginning on 26 September 2000. The online consultation will take place concurrently with the usual procedure for making submissions set out in the Standing Orders of the National Assembly of Québec. On the basis of the forms and submissions received, the parliamentary committee will select the persons and bodies who will be asked to appear at the public hearings. The online consultation and the fact that the Committee may call persons having sent in a form via the Internet illustrates the National Assembly's commitment to promote the democratic use of of ICT in the parliamentary process. Two main objectives underlie this commitment. First, ICT is to be integrated into parliamentary proceedings to assist the National Assembly in carrying out its mandates (law-making and supervision of government action) and is not to be an end in itself. Second, ICT is to be used to enable citizens who wish to be heard and who use the Internet to be treated on an equal footing with citizens who participate in the traditional manner (drafting and making of submissions). A post-project analysis will be conducted in the weeks following the end of the committee's proceedings. Please contact us if you have questions or comments. If you have already set up this type of activity, your comments on that experience would be invaluable to us. Martine Lafleur Bernard Plourde Webmasters National Assembly of Québec ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***
