{"id":14219,"date":"2024-04-18T22:14:42","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T22:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/?p=14219"},"modified":"2024-05-24T22:46:37","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T22:46:37","slug":"tactic-101s-meeting-with-your-representative-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/tactic-101s-meeting-with-your-representative-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Tactic 101s | Meeting with Your Representative (Canada)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Your political representatives are elected to represent you and have a duty to listen to the causes of concern to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When looking to make a difference, consider which decision makers may be best equipped to move the needle. Here\u2019s a handy guide<\/a> to understand the distribution of municipal, provincial and federal responsibilities and powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you try to get a meeting, make sure you are being intentional about who you are reaching out to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start by identifying which level of government is relevant to the issue you are focusing on, and then look up your specific representative based on your postal code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on the nature of your issue, you may also want to engage the federal or provincial ministry or municipal department that is relevant to your cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there, make a list of the key stakeholders that you wish to engage. Don\u2019t forget about opposition critics as you build your list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you have made your list, you can draft a sample email message to look to schedule a meeting. Your email should include an overview of the issue, why it matters and a specific call to action. You can also support your advocacy efforts through a mass email campaign, call campaign, and by reaching out on social media (e.g., Twitter, Instagram) to engage your representative in a public forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find your representatives\u2019 contact information on the House of Commons website, the provincial\/territorial legislature website or the city\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t hesitate to follow up regularly with emails and phone calls. Be sure to be courteous in communications with representative and their teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a meeting is confirmed (yay!) \u2013 take the time to get prepared to ensure the conversation is a productive one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prep:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Do your homework on the stakeholders your meeting with<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Come prepared with the facts and the most pertinent information for the stakeholder to remember<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Be clear about your call to action and what success looks like<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Consider bringing supporting documents for further reading and context on the issue<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Brainstorm and prepare for potential questions from the stakeholders<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • If helpful, roleplay the meeting with friends and family in advance to get comfortable with the setting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    In the meeting:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Be courteous and polite<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Share a concise overview of the issue, why it matters to you and why you believe others should care<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Be mindful of time and thank the stakeholder for the meeting towards the end<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Post meeting:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • Send a follow up email thanking them for their time and recapping next steps<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Establish a record of meeting minutes for future reference<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Share an update with your supporters and a preview of what comes next<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Your political representatives are elected to represent you and have a duty to listen to the causes of concern to you. When looking to make a difference, consider which decision makers may be best equipped to move the needle. Here\u2019s a handy guide to understand the distribution of municipal, provincial and federal responsibilities and powers. Before you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":14220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[219,203],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy-101","category-learn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14219"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15609,"href":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14219\/revisions\/15609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revolutionnaire.co\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}