Democratic First Aid - Social media isn't the place for constructive, democratic dialogue.
Synonymous for being battlegrounds, traditional social media platforms have proven they aren’t the place where constructive, solution oriented, democratic dialogue can take place.
Fueled by a cut-throat advertising revenue model which thrives on keeping users addicted through controversy, traditional social media platforms are hurting our Canadian democracy.
The convenience of mobile apps has reshaped our daily lives in the past decade. Offering instant food delivery, transportation, and a myriad of other services at our fingertips, new standards have irreversibly been set for immediacy and efficiency.
In stark contrast to these incredible advancements reshaping our daily lives, our Canadian democracy remains conspicuously untouched by this wave of innovation. Let's see if we can find out why.
Connecting Canadians to +22k Elected Officials across the Country,
Resident, a free service for all Canadians to find, engage with, ask questions to and request help from their Municipal, Provincial and Federal Governments, Ministries and Agencies, as well as the Elected Officials democratically appointed to represent them.
Designed to bring communities and their leaders closer together in the hopes of enhancing our democracy, encourage responsible citizenship, and ensure that elected officials can serve their constituents effectively, free from the fear of online abuse.
Our democracy dates back 157 years, when the Dominion of Canada was founded. To put a technological timeline in perspective, the first automobile was seen on North American streets 35 years after the foundation of our Canadian democracy.
Not a single technological breakthrough has helped our Canadian democracy evolve. Why is that ? I have a theory.:
One of the first things I learnt in my emergency medicine career was that in the event of a medical emergency in a public place, a first responder must quickly take action to stabilize the victim, and immediately ask one specific person to call 911.
Why "one specific person" ? Because when you ask "Everyone" to do something, they all think that someone else is going to do it.
This valuable lesson has proven right not only in the countless emergencies I've faced in my life, but also in the day to day management of my various companies and projects.
Today, when thinking about the state of our democracy, I think this lesson applies yet again: It's our democracy, it's therefore everyone's problem, and when a critical task is left for many to tackle, everyone thinks someone else will do it.
There is an emergency, Who is stepping up ? Who is taking action to stabilize the situation ?
We're facing an unprecedented democratic crisis in Canada. Hundreds of Municipal Elected Officials have resigned amidst online harassment, intimidation, and disrespect they face every day,
Our democracy's first responders are barely able to just stay in place, let alone represent us adequately. They're just normal Canadians like all of us, except they had the courage to step up and try to make a change. In doing so, they fell subject to the system which is the sum of how we Canadians allowed it to become.
What's the number to call for help? It's not 911, it's Resident, the platform to coordinate all Canadians to work together to find the path beyond the noise and towards real solutions for our collective wellbeing, for generations to come.
Every single Canadian is responsible. We tend to forget this and abdicate all our wishes and woes to our governments.
Let's not forget, our governments are constituted by, and dedicated to the service of each and every Canadian. They are the creation of our population, there to serve us, not the other way around.
Designed, built and operated out of Canada, Resident is now openly available to the Canadian public since January 2024.
It was Built in close collaboration with engaged Canadians, governments and elected officials to build something they all felt they needed. Our thanks goes out to them for their unwavering support.
Offering Canadians an unparalleled facility to discover and engage with their government representatives across all levels, the platform is funded solely from the revenues obtained from governments wishing to subscribe to Elect, Citycare and Govern, our Constituent Relationship Management solutions.
Powerful tools for our +800 Provincial and Federal Elected Officials to engage with, respond to and easily escalate their constituents' requests.
Helping public facing service personnel from +3,000 Canadian municipalities read, respond and resolve incoming requests from their residents.
Facilitating communications, engagement and request resolutions for Canadians by their +2,300 Provincial and Federal governments, Ministries and Agencies.
We as Canadians now have the option to move the discourse with our governments over to a platform where our Canadian democracy can thrive.
Resident is a digital community dedicated to our democracy, free from the “built-by-design” destructive and controversial ad-revenue models that line the pockets of the silicon-valley social-media platforms we currently use and are addicted to.
I invite Canadians to effortlessly voice their concerns, ideas, suggestions and appreciation by publicly posting them on Resident, which seamlessly tags their very own Elected Officials, Governments, Ministries, and Agencies to ensure their voices are heard where it matters most.
A new window is finally opening for all Canadians to peer into the goals, proposals, and important announcements which their governments and representatives so eagerly want to convey.
Resident.social aims to fill the significant void that exists by facilitating structured, meaningful, respectful and measurable dialogue which the platform enables between constituents, their Elected Officials and the governments they were elected to represent.
Currently available on iOS, Android and Web in over 3,000 Canadian municipalities, 10 provinces & 3 territories as well as the 338 electoral districts of the federal government, including over 2,300 provincial and federal government agencies, Resident has placed our entire democracy in the palm of our hands.
If you want to know more about my thoughts regarding the state of our Canadian Democracy, I invite you to read Democracy isn't a Spectator Sport, which goes into more details.
Baseline, the company behind Resident is a profitable, privately held Canadian technology company founded in 1995 which provides industry acclaimed solutions in Govtech, Fintech, Insurtech and various private sector industries for clients around the world.
With the launch of Resident, we continue to serve our esteemed customers, and are currently migrating them to the next-generation platform we've been re-engineering with help from the wonderful people at Google in the past 36 months.
Discover a unique investment opportunity with Baseline, revolutionizing democracy in Canada through technology. Join us in making a meaningful impact.
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