Agora is the public participation layer: structured proposals, arguments, challenge questions, advisory responses and private feedback. Civitas is the proposed response layer: an authorized team defines scope and authority, tests evidence, cost and risk, publishes reasons, and tracks what happens next.
The Vancouver proposition
Launch a transparent public beta, learn what residents use and challenge, improve the rules, and only then seek formal legal, privacy, security, accessibility and municipal review for any institutional pilot.
The boundary
The beta does not replace Council, elections, assent voting, public hearings, courts, professional judgment or statutory decision-makers. It provides an additional public record and a proposed accountability workflow.