On November 22, 37 members of CCIC’s Regional Working Groups gathered at the offices of WUSC in Ottawa to learn more on how to build successful relationships with Members of Parliament and advocate effectively for their issues.

Both newcomers and experienced members expressed their satisfaction with the analysis of the current political context provided by Velma McColl, Managing Principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group and by Shaughn McArthur, Advocacy and Government Relations Advisor at CARE Canada.

They also appreciated the hands-on tips provided by political staffer Tom Allen, Assistant to MP Cheryl Hardcastle. And the highlight of the workshop was the candid discussion with special guest Anita Vandenbeld, Member of Parliament for Ottawa West — Nepean.

The workshop ended with separate strategy sessions for each region: The Americas, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

Building on a number of existing initiatives, the RWGs have a new communication outreach strategy, with the goal of improving communications amongst members to help them share and network, enhance publicity for their events and campaigns, get their issues on decision makers’ radars and improve their outreach to the public.

The RWGs plan to do this through a new shareable calendar and social media engagement.

The RWGs will now tweet and share through CCIC’s social media presence, using personalized hashtags for each region :

#CCICAmericas, #CCCIAmériques,

 #CCICAfrica, #CCCIAfrique,

#CCICAsiaPacific, #CCCIAsiePacifique