Citizen round table

Members

About the Citizen round table

• Advisory committee created in 2017 with two terms under its belt
• Twelve members from various backgrounds and regions, as representative as possible of Québec society
• Constructive and respectful discussions, reflections, and exchanges
• Two to three meetings per year in our Québec City office
• Two-year term renewable once

Our commitment

We are committed to taking the opinions provided by the Table into consideration. They are posted on our website in reports that ensure the participants remain anonymous. We also report on the work of the Citizen round table each year in our annual management report (in French), which we table in the Assemblée nationale du Québec.

Admission requirements

To be a member of the Citizen round Table, a person must:

• Be at least 16 years old
• Be a Canadian citizen
• Be domiciled in Québec for more than six months
• Be able to read and speak French
• Not have been convicted of an offence under electoral legislation
• In the past five years, not have:
  • been a paid staff member of a federal, provincial, or municipal political party or elected official
  • held a position or performed duties within a federal, provincial, or municipal political party as a result of an appointment (a person who served as a volunteer member of an executive or local riding association without having been appointed is eligible)
• When applying, a person not be:
  • an elected representative anywhere in Québec
  • an Élections Québec staff member under the Public Service Act
  • a temporary Élections Québec employee under Section 497 of the Election Act
  • a returning officer or assistant returning officer (other temporary election officers are eligible)
  • a member of the Commission de la représentation électorale, the Permanent board of revisors, or the Advisory Committee of Political Parties, including technical committees

Political party membership

A person may be a member of a federal, provincial or municipal political party when they submit their application. However, once they become a member of the Citizen round table, they must cancel their membership with any political party for the duration of their mandate.

Application assessment criteria

Members of the Citizen round table are selected based on:

• Their interest and motivation to contribute to democracy
• Their ability to work in a team
• Their open-mindedness
• Their ability to demonstrate respect for others and the institution
• Their availability to attend meetings in Québec City

When evaluating applications, we favour the following as much as possible:

• Diversity in gender identity, with a focus on gender parity and the participation of non-binary people
• Representation of all age groups
• Regional diversity
• Socio-professional diversity
• Participation of cultural, ethnic, and linguistic communities
• Participation of people with disabilities
• Participation of Indigenous peoples
• Complementarity of applications

How it works

Members of the staff of Élections Québec are responsible for coordinating the work and providing secretarial services to the Citizen round table. The Chief Electoral Officer is the ex-officio chair of the Table but may delegate responsibility for conducting meetings.

The Citizen round table meets at least twice a year. The meetings are usually held on Fridays in our Québec City office. The Chair of the Table determines the timing of meetings and the agenda. They send preparatory files to the members.

All members have an equal voice at the Table. The Chair shall take the necessary steps to encourage the contribution of all members. The meetings are held behind closed doors, but the minutes are made available online. They are written in such a way as to ensure the anonymity of the comments. Élections Québec reports on the work of the Citizen round table in its annual management report.

Members receive a per diem for attending meetings. They are reimbursed for their travel expenses.

For more information, you can read the operating rules of the Citizen round table.

Code of conduct

The Citizen round table’s code of conduct provides that members work in a spirit of collaboration, openness, and respect, so that everyone can express themselves freely.

Members shall be politically neutral in the performance of their duties and shall act in their own personal capacity, independently of any political party or special interest group. The members give their opinion in the interest of fairness for all Québec electors. During their term of office, members do not belong to any political party. They must also respect certain rules related to confidentiality and speaking in public. They are required to declare any potential or apparent conflict of interest.

For more information, please consult the Citizen round table’s code of conduct for its members.

Meeting reports

Third term: 2023 to 2025

• Meeting of April 12, 2024 (in French)
• Meeting of November 24, 2023 (in French)
• Meeting of June 16, 2023 (in French)

Second term: 2019 to 2021

• Meeting of November 19, 2021
• Meeting of May 28 and June 4, 2021
• Meeting of March 12 and 19, 2021
• Meeting of November 13, 2020
• Meeting of October 30, 2020

First term: 2017 to 2019

• Meeting of October 11, 2019
• Meeting of March 15, 2019
• Meeting of November 16, 2018
• Meeting of June 8, 2018
• Meeting of February 9, 2018
• Meeting of November 10, 2017

Reports

• Report on the 2019-2021 mandate (PDF)
• Report on the 2017-2019 mandate (PDF)