You say you want a revolution? Check back in May. By then, 103 ordinary Ontarians, representing each of the province's ridings, will have flexed some rare people power and informed you if a revolution at the ballot box is, indeed, coming.

Next week, these citizen commissioners will get down to the task of studying the province's first-past-the-post voting system. They will then decide whether it should be scrapped. If they do as thorough a job as the 160 British Columbians who recommended that the province's winner-takes-all system be replaced, I suggest honorary degrees for them all.

In B.C., the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform did enough work for each member to qualify for a master's in political science. They spent a year learning the arcane details of provincial election laws and studying alternatives.

They came up with a radical form of proportional representation in which the number of seats won by parties or independent candidates matches their share of the popular vote.

In the process, they asked fundamental questions: Other than the bare-knuckle, schizophrenic political life that passes for normal in B.C., what parts of the system aren't working? Given an alternative, what kind of politics do British Columbians want? What democratic values are important, and what options reflect that?

It was the first time that political elites in this country had deigned to hand over control of the game to folks on the street.

With zero input from elected officials, these people took their volunteer duty studiously and seriously. They turned up for weekend poli-sci boot camps, listened to their fellow citizens at townhall meetings and debated among themselves in a civilized and non-partisan manner -- more than can be said of most legislatures.

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When the group's work was done and it was time for voters to decide if they wanted to overturn the status quo, ex-members formed an alumni association and campaigned for reform.

The result of the binding referendum -- 57.7 per cent support -- fell short of the legally required 60-per-cent approval needed for change. Nonetheless, British Columbians will have another chance to vote on the issue in May 2009, the fixed date of the next provincial election.

Fully a year after the referendum, some ex-assembly members still give public talks about the proposed changes. Their dedication and hard work have won them the respect of academics and pundits.