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Federation of Ontario Law Associations
  • Home
  • About
    • FOLA Executive
    • Law Associations
    • Ont. Courthouse Libraries
    • Member Rewards
    • Awards
    • Contact Us
  • Issues & Submissions
    • OPEN CONSULTATIONS
    • Access to Justice
    • Ads, Mktg, & Client Fees
    • Alt. Business Structures
    • Auto Insurance
    • Compliance Entity Regs
    • COURTS
    • Criminal Law
    • Dialogue on Licensing
    • Family Law Reforms
    • Legal Aid
    • LAW SOCIETY OF ONTARIO
    • MAG
    • MINISTRY OF FINANCE
    • Real Estate Law
    • Rules of Practice
  • News & Events
    • FOLA Plenary - SPRING 23
    • BENCHER ELECTIONS 2023
    • Lobby Day
    • FOLA Newsletters
    • Assn. & Other Events
    • Jobs
    • In the News
    • Past FOLA Plenaries
  • RESOURCES
    • Mental Health Resources
    • ONCA
    • Diversity
    • Financial Solutions Blog
    • Practice Resources
    • Professional Development
    • LegalTech Resources
    • Membership Resources
    • Law Students & Articling
    • Other Useful Links

FOLA'S LOBBY DAY 2023 RECAP

read it here

FOLA'S LOBBY DAY 2023

FOLA LOBBY DAY 2023


Registration closed // event passed


POST LOBBY DAY REPORT COMING SOON


What are Lobby Days? Lobby Days are commonly used by non-profits and professional organizations as opportunities to set aside a day to meet with elected members and political staff to raise awareness of their issued.


VIEW AGENDA HERE


LOBBY DAY PREPERATION

  • FOLA provided issue-specific talking points for each Roundtable meeting;
  • FOLA hosted pre-event meetings to prepare for each Roundtable meeting; and
  • FOLA hosted a "Lobbying 101" virtual session to teach/remind participants how to speak with MPPs, Cabinet Ministers, and staff and how to connect with media and respond to media requests

All above events were recorded and recordings were made available to all registrants.


Approximately participants also held individual meetings with their own MPP.


Why is meeting with your MPP important?  Click here


Prepare for your meetings: learn more!


If you have any questions, please email Katie at katie.robinette@fola.ca 


PAST LOBBY DAYS

AGENDA (2023)

MEDIA RELSEASE (2023)

Post Lobby Day Press Release (2023)

AGENDA AT A GLANCE

LOBBY DAY 2022 – MARCH 7, 2023

9:00am: Log on and Welcome, FOLA Chair and FOLA ED 

9:30am: NDP AG Critic Forum with Kristyn Wong-Tam, MPP (Toronto Centre) 

10:00am: Legal Aid Roundtable (with Anthony Galea, Senior Policy Advisor, MAG)

10:45am: Family Law Roundtable (with Anthony Galea, Senior Policy Advisor, MAG)

11:30am: Courthouse Issues/Courthouse Modernization (with Karthi Gobinath, Director of Policy, MAG)

12:00pm:  Parliamentary Assistant to the Treasury Board President, Todd McCarthy, MPP (Durham)

12:30pm: Mini Session with the Minister for Francophone Affairs, Hon Caroline Mulroney, MPP (York Simcoe) *NOTE: this session will be in French and will take place via Teams

12:45pm: Real Estate Law Roundtable (with Karthi Gobinath, Director of Policy, MAG,  Anthony Galea, Senior Policy Advisor, MAG, & Miles White, Senior Policy Advisor, MOF

1:30pm: Criminal Law & Bail Reform (with Peter Copeland, Director of Policy & Stakeholder Relations, SOLGEN & Karthi Gobinath, Director of Policy, MAG)

3:30pm:  Attorney General of Ontario, Minister Doug Downey, MPP (Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte) 

4:30pm: Wrap Up with reports from all Roundtable Chairs 


*Throughout the day, there will also be one-on-one meetings with attendee MPPs.

RESOURCES FOR YOUR MEETINGS

WHY MEET WITH YOUR MPP?

RESOURCES FOR YOUR ROUNDTABLE MEETINGS

RESOURCES FOR YOUR ROUNDTABLE MEETINGS

Meeting with MPPs and their staff is one of the most critical advocacy activities available.

  

MPPs will assume that for every person they meet with, receive a telephone call or a letter from, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of others with the same view who have not taken the time to contact them.


MPPs often compare notes about constituent meetings and will identify where there is widespread support across the province for specific initiatives and positions.


If you ask an MPP a question that they don’t have the answer to, they’ll generally ask the central party staff to research and prepare an answer. This makes the wider organization aware of the issue you’re raising.


Meeting with MPPs gives you a chance to listen to their challenges and concerns, and be able to adapt your messages to take these into consideration.

In the case of justice policy, which impacts almost every person at some point in their lives, meeting with an MPP face-to-face gives you an opportunity to provide professional anecdotes from the front lines.


TIPS & STRATEGIES FOR YOUR MPP MEETINGS

LOOK UP YOUR RIDING

RESOURCES FOR YOUR ROUNDTABLE MEETINGS

RESOURCES FOR YOUR ROUNDTABLE MEETINGS

RESOURCES FOR YOUR ROUNDTABLE MEETINGS

All Roundtable meetings will be with Ministers' senior staff.  These are the people who can best address and follow up on your key issues are a direct line to the Minister.  These meetings serve as your best opportunity to drill down into the weeds on your concerns.


TALKING POINTS

GENERAL TALKING POINTS 

(About FOLA and Law Associations)

REAL ESTATE LAW

LEGAL AID

FAMILY LAW

CRIMINAL LAW

COURTHOUSE ISSUES

TIPS & STRATETIES FOR ROUNDTABLES

MEDIA/MEETING TRAINING

MEDIA/MEETING TRAINING

MEDIA/MEETING TRAINING

FOLA will be offering free training to all those registered for Lobby Day 2022.  This training will include tips on how to best talk to Queen's Park staff.


We encourage all those who register attend in person but the event will be recorded and distributed to those registered.  It will NOT be available for wider distribution.  


MEDIA PREP SHEETS

THE COMPELLING NARRATIVE CREATOR 

 THE COMPELLING NARRATIVE CREATOR – NEGATIVE NEWS 

Before you speak with someone from the media, take a moment to fill out one of the two one-pagers (above) to help ensure you know your messaging and issues.

MPP BIOS

MEDIA/MEETING TRAINING

MEDIA/MEETING TRAINING

PC Party of Ontario 

Ontario Liberal Party

Ontario NDP




PAST LOBBY DAYS

LOBBY DAY 2022

LOBBY DAY 2022

LOBBY DAY 2022

On February 23, 2022, approximately 40 lawyers from Law Associations across Ontario logged onto Zoom for a full day of meetings as part of FOLA’s Virtual Lobby Day.  We hosted a series of Open Forums with the Honorable Doug Downey, Ontario’s Attorney General and MPP for Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, Gurratan Singh, MPP for Brampton East, Deputy Opposition House Leader and the Official Opposition Critic for the Attorney General, and Lucille Collard, MPP for Ottawa-Vanier and the Liberal’s Shadow Critic for the Attorney General.  


We also hosted Roundtable Sessions on Legal Aid, Real Estate Law, Family Law, Criminal Law, and Courthouse Issues and there were a number of individual meetings between participants and their local MPPs.

READ OUR 2022 POST LOBBY DAY REPORT

LOBBY DAY 2020

LOBBY DAY 2022

LOBBY DAY 2022

On February 20th, 2020, approximately 60 lawyers from law associations all across Ontario descended upon Queen's Park for a full day of meetings and events. After some networking over breakfast, our members received a recap of key issue and a session on Lobbying/Advocacy 101 with Fasken's  Lindsay Aagaard before heading in to watch Question Period.  We then hosted a luncheon reception for all MPPs and staff where both the Honorable Doug Downey, MPP (Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte) and Ontario's Attorney General and Gurratan Singh, MPP (Brampton East) and the NDP critic for the Attorney General said a few words.    At 1:30, individual members began breaking out into various groups and headed off to meetings with  individual MPPs, Cabinet Ministers, and Ministers' staff.  In all, 26 separate meetings were held!

The day wrapped up with a round table debrief. 


Check out our or pictures!  

READ OUR 2020 POST LOBBY DAY REPORT

LOBBY DAY Photo Gallery

Gurratan Singh, MPP & NDP Attorney General Critic 

    LOBBY DAY 101

    WHAT IS LOBBYING?

    Lobbying is commonly understood to be a a type of advocacy that can occur when groups or individuals bring issues and concerns directly to their government. This would involve speaking with MPPs (elected public officers) in their local riding, to party leaders, ministers and critics, and political staff with regard to developing or changing government policy. The Lobbying Act states there should be “free and open access to government is an important matter of public interest”.   Lobbying is a defined term in the Lobbying Registry Act.


    FOLA's Lobby Day is an opportunity to speak with politicians to positively affect change in policy.


    FOLA's Lobby Day is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of Ontario's 47 Law Associations, and issues concerning Ontario's roughly 12,000 small and sole practicing lawyer among some of the most important decision makers in the province while at the same time, offering FOLA's members a glimpse into the life of a politician and/or their staff.  

    LOBBY REGISTRATION ACT - ONTARIO

    WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR YOUR meetings

    This quick 2 minute video by the American Chemical Society offers a great check list for you before your meetings.  For a recap of the of the list, visit here.

    MEETINGS WITH MPPs AND STAFF

    MEETING PREP CHECK LIST

    MEETING PREP CHECK LIST

    MEETING PREP CHECK LIST

    In Advance of the Meeting

    Plan how you'll describe the issues you want to discuss.

    Make sure to avoid unnecessary jargon and don't "talk down" to legislators and their staff. These individuals are smart and well informed, but they usually won't have legal backgrounds.

    If you're going as a team, plan beforehand who will take the lead and how you'll each effectively share your main points.


    Attending the Meeting

    Be on time. The member may be running late  -but you shouldn’t!

    Recognize that you'll likely be talking to a staff member too.

    Be succinct:  You will have 15 quality minutes: limit your message and stay on point.  Have a clear "ask"?  Now's your time to make it!

    Describe the importance of the issue to your work. Use anecdotes or personal narratives. Explain how this affects their community and the public.

    Be open to questions. If you don’t know the answer, offer to get it and follow up.

    Conclude and reiterate top points, making sure to capture follow-ups or commitments.


    After the Meeting

    Thank them verbally for meeting with you.

    Follow up by sending a thank you email to the MPP and the staff person who spoke with you. This is especially important if your goal is to establish a relationship.

    Touch base with office contacts every three months to help build a relationship.


    And don't forget to check out this handy video.

    CONTACT AN MPP

    MEETING PREP CHECK LIST

    MEETING PREP CHECK LIST

    FOLA will help arrange meetings for you, but if you choose to arrange your own, here are some great contact resources.


    Here's your go-to list for all current MPPs and staff.   Looking for a Cabinet Minister or their staff?  Click on Ministries (drop down menu).  Looking for an MPP or their staff?  Select Legislative and then the party they belong to.  Here's quick link.


    Link to the main Ontario MPP & staff directory (includes Ministers and Parliamentary Assistants).


    Looking for your MPP and don't know who that is or what Riding you live in?  Look it up!  Just click on the blue button below.

    POSTAL CODE RIDING SEARCH

    Downloads

    FOLA Lobby Day Recap 2020 (pdf)Download
    Meeting with your MPP - FOLA (pdf)Download
    Roundtable Meetings - FOLA (pdf)Download
    FOLA Lobby Day Press Release - 2022 (pdf)Download
    FOLA Post Lobby Day Press Release - 2022 (pdf)Download
    FOLA Lobby Day Recap 2022 - FINAL (pdf)Download
    QP Briefing - FOLA Lobby Day 2022 article (pdf)Download
    THE COMPELLING NARRATIVE CREATOR (pdf)Download
    THE COMPELLING NARRATIVE CREATOR - NEGATIVE NEWS (pdf)Download
    Legal Aid - Talking Points - Lobby Day 2023 (pdf)Download
    Courthouse Issues - Talking Points - Lobby Day 2023 (pdf)Download
    GENERIC TALKING POINTS FOR LOBBY DAY 2023 (pdf)Download
    FOLA Lobby Day - Agenda (pdf)Download
    Family Law - Talking Points - Lobby Day 2023 v2 (pdf)Download
    Real Estate - Talking Points - Lobby Day 2023 (pdf)Download

    Downloads

    FOLA Lobby Day 2023 Press Relsease (pdf)Download
    Criminal Law - Talking Points - Lobby Day 2023 (pdf)Download
    Meeting with your MPP - FOLA (pdf)Download
    FOLA Lobby Day 2023 - Post Event Press Release - March 7 2023 (pdf)Download
    FOLA Lobby Day Recap 2023 (pdf)Download

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