At Civics 101, our goal is to teach the people of this province about how the Ontario government works- to help inform all Ontarians about our electoral system and their voting rights, as well as the processes and procedures of government.
Through animated explainers, interactive features and interviews with political movers and shakers in the province, we hope to give you not only a greater understanding of the nuts and bolts of how government works, but a sense of how government impacts your everyday life.
To help us do this, we have developed this site in partnership with a select group of organizations and individuals whose expertise has helped to form the content on this site.
The Maytree Foundation is a private Canadian charitable foundation, committed to reducing poverty and inequality in Canada and to building strong civic communities. Maytree supports and funds ideas, leaders and leading organizations that have the capacity to make change and advance the common good. The Maytree Foundation does extensive outreach, conducting community workshops on leadership development and involving disenfranchised citizens in public policy decision making.
The Maytree Foundation has incorporated Civics 101 content- the animations, videos, and printed materials- into their "How Government Works" instruction workshops. As well, Maytree is helping to conduct content testing of Civics 101 within communities that may not otherwise have easy access to the website either due to economic or linguistic barriers.
Go to the Maytree site.
Settlement.Org, an award winning website, is an excellent source of useful and up-to-date information and resources for new immigrants to Ontario.
During your visit to Settlement.Org you will find information you can trust about a wide range of topics such as housing, employment, health, and learning English. You will also learn about voting in local elections, Canada's political parties, and getting involved.
Settlement.Org and Civics 101 are sharing expertise and information to enhance the resources on both websites. For example, videos from Civics101 will be featured on Settlement.Org and they are helping TVO to understand the type of information that would be helpful to newcomers.
Jonathan Rose is Associate Professor of Political Studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. From 2006-07 he was the Academic Director of the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform.
Jonathan was educated at the University of Toronto and Queen's University. He has taught at Queen's, in New York, Japan and the International Studies Centre (Herstmonceux), UK. In 2008 Jonathan was a Visiting Research Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington where he lectured on citizen engagement.
Jonathan's research is in the area of Canadian politics and political communication. His current research project is to examine, with other colleagues, citizens' assemblies in BC, Ontario and the Netherlands.
Jonathan acts as a consultant on Civics 101, vetting and editing animations and printed materials.
Read his full Bio.
The Agenda with Steve Paikin Allan Gregg in Conversation Big Ideas Think Again
