Caledon man serves on new Citizen's Assembly

A Caledon man is one of 103 citizens who are reviewing the province's electoral system.

Matthew L.O. Certosimo was named to the Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform.

Certosimo grew up in Bradford, studied in Waterloo and Halifax and now lives in Caledon. He and his wife Dawn have twin eight-year-old daughters, Maggie and Frankie.

He said the assembly is "an historic opportunity to make a difference" and since he studied political science, he's "quite interested in the electoral process."

Certosimo is a labour and employment lawyer in Toronto, a partner in a national law firm, and an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto. He enjoys spending time with his wife and daughters, and travelling whenever possible.

The assembly is independent of government. It is made up of 103 randomly-selected citizens - one from each of Ontario's electoral districts. With the chair, 52 of the members are male and 52 are female. At least one member is Aboriginal.

Together, assembly members will examine Ontario's electoral system - the system that structures how votes get combined to elect Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs).

The assembly's work will be led and facilitated by George Thomson, an educator and former judge and deputy minister, who was appointed by the government.

Members of the assembly were selected at random by Elections Ontario from the Permanent Register of Electors for Ontario. Every registered voter was eligible to participate, with a few exceptions, such as elected officials.

Members of the assembly will meet about twice a month for eight months.

Together, they'll examine our current electoral system and learn about other systems. Then, they'll consult with the public through meetings and written submissions. And then, depending on what they learn and hear, they'll recommend either keeping our current electoral system or adopting a new one.

That recommendation will be outlined in a report due by May 15.

If the assembly recommends making a change to Ontario's current electoral system, it will be put to a referendum this fall.