This text is part of the special publication Public consultations
Over the years, the Office de consultation publique de Montreal (OCPM) has built its expertise in the art to gather public opinion. But the main difficult remains to seek the point of view of those who do not give it easily. A work long term which is now bearing fruit.
“We have reversed our original model, according to which those who want to participate come to the Office to tell themselves that it was our responsibility, ours, to get people to participate,” explains Guy Grenier, coordinator of participatory approaches. and member of the management committee of the OCPM.
In 2014-2015, the Office effectively began a paradigm shift. This repositioning came from an observation, that of the imbalance between the participation of men and that of women. At each consultation, they represented less than 40% of the participants. The opinion hearings also received a fairly homogeneous clientele: “People who come easily are people with a relatively high level of education, in a good economic situation, and who are already active in civil society groups”, explains Mr. Grenier. . In short, “people who are used to constructing a rhetoric, a discourse on various issues on a daily basis”. In its traditional form, consultation resembles a court. “It’s very intimidating, it’s not the kind of exercise where everyone feels comfortable. »
Electronic questionnaires
In 2008, the first innovation, that of electronic questionnaires, within the framework of the examination of the plan for the protection and enhancement of Mount Royal. More than 2,700 Montrealers responded, while the average face-to-face participants never exceeded a few hundred. Online questionnaires have since become standard practice at the OCPM, as have information tools in plain language in the same year, to make them accessible to everyone. Among other things, they were intended for new arrivals, unfamiliar with the consultation process, some coming from countries where expressing oneself freely is inconceivable.
But it was really eight years ago, when Mr. Grenier had just joined the team, that the organization took a turn off the beaten track to go beyond the traditional “information session, questions-answers and opinion hearings. “Ready-to-consult” kits are designed to allow small groups, on their own initiative, to organize their consultation and debate activity, at home, at work, in the park or even in a restaurant, then to send the results to the OCPM.
“We launched this as part of the consultation on reducing dependence on fossil fuels in 2015,” says Guy Grenier. We then realized that 70% of the organizers were in fact organizers. “Women are more comfortable in small groups, and in groups of affinities, the Office observed. The same is true for people from cultural minorities. “It made it possible to relocate exchanges, to do them in more convenient places and times, in an environment where you feel more confident. »
During this period, the Office also establishes participation rate targets by group.
Daily expertise
What interests the Office, explains the coordinator of participatory approaches, is “the daily expertise”, the experience and the perceptions accumulated by the residents. Expertise that can be collected indirectly, through play in particular. In 2014, during the consultation on the East Plateau employment sector, citizens were invited to play on a model card with Legos. A fun experience that will be repeated many times over. “Modelling clay, small sticks, colored chalk, we really tried a lot of things”, lists Guy Grenier, who adds that, sometimes, the Office organizes role-playing games to enable participants to really in place.
Guy Grenier ensures to make tailor-made. “Each consultation is different, we cannot repeat the same recipe: we are constantly reinventing ourselves”, indicates the one who considers, however, that with the exception of online questionnaires, digital does not really have the effect of going look for more people. Nothing better than face-to-face, he believes.
It is with this in mind that the Office set up, last summer, a squad of interceptors responsible for questioning passers-by at festivals and other neighborhood celebrations across the city, and this , as part of the large-scale consultation Réflexion 2050. And to reach those who will be the first concerned by the Montréal of the year 2050, the OCPM also organizes meetings in schools, as well as with all councils district youth. A long-term strategy, to retain citizens and engage them over the long term.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.