January 26th, 2026
My fellow Belizeans,
The importance of public consultation weighs heavily on me today.
Meaningful public consultation is defined as a genuine, two-way conversation where decision-makers actively listen to and seriously consider the views, concerns, and knowledge of affected parties, including but not limited to Indigenous groups, women, people with disabilities, underserved employees, or marginalized communities, before making irreversible decisions, ensuring their input influences outcomes, not just token engagement.
It requires transparent information sharing, sufficient time, and a commitment to adapting plans to address valid input no matter where it comes from, to aim for better solutions and shared legitimacy.
Many legal and governmental bodies, financial institutions, industrial associations, Indigenous Peoples and Rights advocates agree meaningful public consultation is a cornerstone of a healthy, functioning democracy, transforming it from mere voting into an active, ongoing dialogue between citizens and their governments.
It serves to deepen democracy by ensuring that laws and policies are not only formulated by representatives but are also shaped by knowledge, experience, and with the consent of the people.
I also want to align fully with how the Honorable Minister, Dr. Louis Zabaneh, framed it just this month: Consultation is the heart of our modern democracy.
I’d like to share here a more detailed breakdown of the importance of meaningful public consultation in support of democracy. Right off, meaningful public consultation enhances legitimacy and builds trust.
It strengthens legitimacy because policies, laws, and regulations developed through public input are generally viewed as more legitimate and credible by society.
It builds trust because when governments demonstrate that they have listened to, and acted upon, public input, it reduces cynicism, apathy, and mistrust in public institutions.
It increases transparency because open consultation processes allow the public to monitor and understand how decisions are made, which promotes accountability. We’ve also witnessed how meaningful public consultation improves policy quality and effectiveness.
Because it taps into local knowledge, meaningful consultation provides decision-makers with access to “lived experiences” and on-the-ground knowledge that consultants, experts or officials might lack.
Meaningful public consultation identifies potential challenges because engaging with those affected allows for the early identification of problems, unintended consequences, and potential bottlenecks, leading to smoother implementation.
Meaningful public consultation fosters innovation because public consultation can bring in diverse perspectives and out-of-the-box ideas, resulting in more creative and sustainable solutions.
Meaningful consultation fosters inclusivity and social equity because it gives underrepresented, marginalized, or vulnerable groups a platform to influence decisions that directly affect their lives.
Meaningful consultation counterbalances vested interests because it provides a transparent, structured way for the public to affect and impact policy, balancing the influence of powerful voices who may be behind the scenes.
Meaningful consultation encourages active citizenship because it promotes empowerment. It shifts citizens from passive recipients of government actions to active participants, increasing their sense of ownership in the democratic process. Bad actors would like to promote the idea that active citizenship is limited to voting every five years and paying taxes.
Through meaningful consultations, citizens of all ages get the opportunity to learn about the complexities of decision-making, which can lead to better-informed public discourse.
And informed public discourse is critical because meaningful public consultation has also proven to be critical in preventing conflict and reducing confusion. By addressing concerns in the “formative stage” of policy development, governments can turn public opposition into constructive dialogue. Meaningful public consultation also helps to mitigate the risk to legal exposure and financial liabilities by helping to identify and assess such risks, leading to more resilient, evidence-informed decisions that reduce the likelihood of legal challenges.
The bottom-line is that for meaningful consultation to strengthen democracy, it cannot be an exercise in checking the box. Input must be valued. Opinions weighed. People want to know they are being listened to.
Engagement must be early, taking place when policies are still in the developmental phase.
Engagement must be transparent, providing sufficient, clear information.
Engagement must be real, conscientiously considering all input and explaining how it has shaped the final decision.
Engagement must be inclusive, actively reaching out to a diverse range of stakeholders.
We must all reject the approach that it is only when there is a “scandal” that we seek to consult. By that time, the social contract is already broken. By then, the public is already frustrated. By then, trust is already lost. And we must all reject anyone’s argument that consultation is costly, time-consuming or somehow a personal attack on elected officials.
On the contrary, an elected official informed by and aligned with their constituency, and armed with their trust and confidence, is a force to be reckoned with. I think the global news cycle and yes, to some degree nationally, particularly lately, has provided example after example after example of what failure to uphold these principles can, conversely, lead to. No one benefits from a “culture of pessimism and detachment,” where citizens feel their voices are ignored.
Well, let me rephrase established power structures benefit.
An established power structure is defined as the long-standing, hierarchical system that dictates who holds authority, who
makes decisions, and who controls resources in a society. It’s also defined by formal rules, informal norms, and historical traditions. These structures create order by defining roles, influence, and chains of command, ensuring power flows in predictable ways. So yes, established power structures benefit when we get jaded and pessimistic. I’ve said it before.
Bad actors are counting on us to give up, to be silent, to “stay in our lane.”
Political elites benefit and special interest groups benefit. Because when people write off things they don’t agree with as “a done deal” or “well they wa still do whe de want”, that attitude reduces accountability and resistance to wrongs. This environment of alienation allows for the consolidation of power because a disengaged public is less likely to scrutinize,
challenge, or demand the reversal of decisions not made in the best interest of the people.
We need our democracy to be powerful (strong) and resilient, meaning proactive, meaning preparing for future challenges to not just recover but to grow stronger, instead of merely focusing on bouncing back after adversity.
Democracy as we need it to be is under direct and existential threat. In fact, respected political experts posit that for the first time in decades, autocracies (dictatorships) now outnumber democracies globally. I was still coming to terms with that when I read the words of a South American journalist on developments of late in that part of the world.
And I confess, what she said came across a warning to anyone not seeing the big picture. Below, I share a brief excerpt from that news article which quoted the journalist who they called Anna, because it was not safe to use her real name. This is what she said:
Anna: “I want the world to know that we come from the future. We lost our democracy to authoritarianism, and it felt like a very robust democracy.
Nobody really thought that we would lose it. We fought, protested, we did journalism, we reminded everyone of the importance of democracy and human rights. We did what we thought we had to do and still lost our democracy.
Many places, many countries in the world, western countries right now, feel like their democracy is weakening, their institutions are weakening, the press is weakening, there’s increased polarization. We’ve been there. We went through that.
This is the future. That’s why we screamed for help for so long. We denounced human rights violations, and a lot of the world ignored us. You know, they positioned our denouncing of human rights violations and torture and irregular groups as something part of a left versus right narrative. Communism versus capitalism.”
That part made me think of the preferred tactic of divide and conquer.
Anna continued: “Well, that’s not the world we live in right now. We need people who believe in human rights and people who believe in actual self-determination and freedom to work together across the entire political spectrum. Whether you’re left or you’re right, it’s the same thing. Losing your freedom it’s the same thing for everyone. The people are the thing that matters the most.”
I make this intervention today out of hope. Hope is a verb, an action word. Hope that as the beautiful Belizeans we are when we are united in a common goal, that we will always work to do whatever we must to move our democracy from strength to strength.
And yes, putting meaningful consultation with the Belizean people as the heart, and soul, of our nation strengthens our democracy.
I thank you.
Sincerely,
Janelle Chanona
Senator for Non-Governmental Organizations
