How do we get involved
CHFT will provide help to co-ops and co-op members who want to become involved in government relations campaigns. For more information contact:
Maria La Vida, Government Relations and Communications Coordinator
416-465-8688 extension 215
maria@coophousing.com
Contact politicians
Arrange a meeting
The best way to talk to politicians is in a face to face meeting.
Call, write or e-mail their constituency office. The contact information is usually available on government web sites. Ask for a meeting to talk about one of the issues that are important to your co-op. You will probably not get very much time, so don't try and talk about everything.
Have a small group of people (two to four) ready to talk to the politician. Meet ahead of time and make sure that you know what you want to say and who is going to say it.
Listen to what the politicians have to say and try to answer questions as best you can.
Write
Writing a personal letter or a letter that is on co-op letterhead is another good way to communicate with politicians.
Make sure that the opening paragraph clearly states what you want to talk about. It is best to pick one or two topics and keep the information clear. If you are writing a personal letter, make sure that you tell them what co-op you are from and talk about the issue affects you.
Ask the politician to let you know what his or her response is to these issues
Phone
When you call a politician's office, you probably won't be able to talk to the politician themselves. You will be talking to an assistant and very often you will get an answering machine.
Leave a message with the assistant or on the machine that includes the name of the co-op you are in and briefly outlines the issue that you would like to talk about.
Ask that somebody get back to you with a response.
Most politicians get hundreds of e-mails every day. In order for your e-mail to be most effective, the subject line should indicate that you are writing about a particular co-op issue and the first couple of lines of the e-mail should be clear.
Invite
Most politicians like to meet the people they represent. Invite you local municipal councillors, Members of Provincial Parliament and Members of Parliament to events at you like co-op anniversaries, holiday parties, etc.
Help to organize
Volunteer to help with the campaigns that CHFT is working on.
Go to meetings that CHFT and other groups set up to talk about lobbying and government relations
Create political action groups in your co-op