Dream No Small Dreams: National Conference and Lobbying Days, June 2-4, 2024

Lobbying: We will be lobbying on Monday and Tuesday. Please do your best to not schedule meetings from 1:30 pm  to 4:00 pm on Monday.

All times are given in EDT.

Sunday, June 2, 2023, 1 pm – 6 pm
1:00 pm – doors open – light snacks provided
1:30 pm – Welcome and Land Acknowledgement
1:40 pm – Icebreaker activities
1:45 pm – Finalizing our 2024-2025 for CCL Canada Strategic Plan
3:00 pm break
3:30 pm – Getting ready to lobby, schedules, forming teams, and designing motivational interviewing questions
5:00 pm – light meal – appetizer
6:30 pm – Weather permitting photo shoot on Parliament Hill

Monday, June 3, 2024, noon to 6:30 pm
12:00 pm –Doors will open and light brunch will be provided. Socializing and meeting with your lobby groups
1:15 pm – Welcome and Land Acknowledgement
1:30 pm – a series of guest speakers.
4:00 pm – final lobby preparations and preparing your story for your local news about your experiences.
5:00 pm – light meal
6:30 pm – –exploring Parliament Hill and taking lots of great photos

Tuesday, June 4, 2024
8:00 am to 9:00 am – TBA

Zoom registration will open in early May for this event.

THE LORD ELGIN HOTEL IS OUR VENUE

You must book by  NEW Wednesday, May 8, 2024.
Here is a booking link you to be able to book directly through their website
If  calling into the hotel to make their reservations the group block number is 5148118.
Rate: $259.00 per room per night (single/double occupancy), plus taxes and fees per night (5% MAT and 13% HST)

If you have any issues with the booking link or would like to book outside of the block dates, please have them email their in-house reservations team at groups@lordelgin.ca or by calling directly to the hotel at 613-235-3333.

OTHER OPTIONS

• The University of Ottawa is a few blocks away from our hotel venue and Parliament Hill. It has 2-bedroom suites with a bathroom and kitchenette. They are hotel-like and a good affordable option:
  • There is 90U  https://www.uottawa.ca/about-us/reservations/summer-accommodation/residences/90u
  • The Rideau residence  https://www.uottawa.ca/about-us/reservations/summer-accommodation/residences/rideau
• The OTTAWA Jail Hostel is only a 15 minute walk to our conference
  http://www.hihostels.ca/Ontario/1166/hi-ottawa-jail.hostel

Inviting your Parliamentarians

Phone and email your MPs to let them know that you are planning to lobby them in June. 

By May 6 will also have a separate invitation for you to send to your MP for the Dreamcatcher event on Parliament Hill on the morning of Tuesday, June 4. That will be on the May action sheets, on the conference page, and CCL Community Page.

Ideally, you’ll be able to arrange a lobbying time during our time in Ottawa. But if your MP is unavailable then, you can lobby them any time they are available in June over Zoom or in your home riding! 

Here are the steps

1. Phone and email your MPs to let them know that you are planning to lobby them in June (see script below). The key is to phone, then identify yourself as a constituent and finally follow it up with an email. Be prepared to do this several times until you get an answer. 
2. Draft a Getting Ready to lobby document in Word to share before you book the appointment. Even if it is in draft form, that is Ok. Please get it started.   
3. Then register your appointment here please. 

Here are the details:

Phone Script Outline

• Introduce yourself as a constituent in [insert name of electoral district]
• Express authentic appreciation for something the politician has done lately. 
• Introduce Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) Canada
  • Non-partisan, volunteer-led, not-for-profit founded in Canada in 2010.
  • Chapters across Canada, representing over 120 ridings 
  • OPTIONAL  we have been focused on advocating for a Carbon Fee and Dividend policy – a policy that is effective and economically efficient. Only if you think the MP might be not know this about us. 
• Let them know that on Monday, June 3 and Tuesday, June 4, CCL volunteers from across the country will be meeting with our Members of Parliament to hear their thoughts on Canada’s current climate policies and carbon pricing in Canada, and to work on shared goals for tackling the climate crisis together
• Let them know you would like to schedule a meeting with them for sometime during these two days, or another date in October
• Inform the staff you will be emailing soon after as well to follow-up and confirm the date, time, and meeting details with them. Be sure to get the best email handle for the staffer. 
• Thank them  

Email Script
Replace text in square brackets as appropriate  and customize to your own circumstances. 

Dear [insert Title and Name of Parliamentarian],

I am a constituent of yours in [insert name of electoral district]. I volunteer with a group called Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada (“CCL”), which is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots advocacy organization that strives to support political will for evidence based climate policies. With over 40 active chapters across Canada, representing more than 120 ridings, CCL has been solely focused on supporting this policy since its inception in September 2010.

On Monday, June 3, Tuesday, June and throughout June CCL volunteers from across the country will be meeting with our Parliamentarians to hear their thoughts on current climate policy and carbon pricing in Canada, and discuss how we can work on shared goals for tackling the climate crisis together.

We would appreciate meeting with you to hear your views on these topics,   and how we can work together to tackle the current climate crisis.

Specifically, we are interested in talking to MP [name of MP] about CCL Canada’s Spring 2024 lobbying asks.  You can cut and paste the very specific ask you would like to discuss with your MP or provide them with choice. 

My fellow constituents and I are looking forward to having an opportunity to introduce ourselves and get to know you.

Kind regards, 

[insert Constituent name]

Leave Behind – Spring 2024 
It is still in draft format and not translated yet.

Undaunted Conference Booklet  
We will update our past conference booklet and post it here. For now we leave it here so you can see what needs to be done.  Literally, use them as visual prompts when lobbying. If your MP takes a booklet for themselves, you know they are interested.

Getting ready to lobby document (exemplar)
The lead person makes sure there is a biography of the parliamentarian in a document. Lobbyists meet before the lobbying session to review the document, assign roles in the meeting, the focus of their lobbying based on the most current “leave behind” and design possible motivational interviewing questions.

CCCL Lobbying 101 
Our PowerPoint presentation for lobby training. We anticipate this will be updated.

Laser Talks Booklets
The conference booklet will have the most up-to-date laser talks
Here are some great complilation to get a sense of our work
Laser Talks Booklet – Fall 2023 
Demystifying Carbon Pricing 
Seven Lucky Laser Talks
Redirecting Financial Flows Laser Talks Booklet

We will be updating these resources and everything should be ready by mid-May. These are September 2023 resources and we will be tweeking htem

We have selected which we think are best as background for each of our lobbying asks noting that that everyone should read the first three laser talks:

• Climate Income a.k.a Carbon Fee and Dividend
• The Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
• Output-Based Pricing Systems (OBPS)

Follow the European Union’s lead in implementing a CBAM by 2026. To prepare for CBAM, Canada’s carbon pricing policies must be harmonized in terms of the price of carbon pollution, coverage (GHG emissions and sources of emissions) and transparency.

• Output-Based Pricing Systems (OBPS)
• Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAMs)

Study the appropriate rate of increasing the carbon price beyond 2030 to provide certainty so that households, businesses, and industries can plan accordingly.

• Pembina Simulator Shows Carbon Pricing As Core Component of Any Cost-Effective Climate Plan
• EnROADS Simulator Finds Carbon Pricing Key in Emissions Reduction Worldwide 
• Canada’s Climate Income Policy Cuts GHGs

Request that the Parliamentary Budget Officer in future reports on the impact of the federal carbon pricing on households take into account the social cost of carbon, and the economic benefits of carbon pricing as well as Canada’s entire suite of climate policies on households compared to doing nothing. 

• Important Reports from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) 31
• The PBO is fuelling opposition to Canada’s climate policies 32
• Impacts of Canada’s Climate Policies on One Saskatchewan Household
• The Social Cost of Carbon

Educate impacted Canadians about the rebates they receive under the GGPPA’s Fuel Charge in provinces where it applies. Most households that receive the rebates are unaware that they realise financial gains from carbon pricing.

• Fair Path Forward’s Rebate Calculator 
• The Carbon Inequality Brontosaurus Chart 
• Carbon Inequality in the G20 Nations 
• Pollution pricing with equal dividends enhances equity and development
• Canada, Carbon Pricing and Agriculture
• Does Canada’s carbon tax impact the price of food?
• Carbon Pricing and the Cost of Gas

(a) Move methane-gas-powered electricity from the Output-Based Pricing System into the Fuel Charge section of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA).
(b) Enact the new Clean Electricity Regulations by December 2023 and ensure that they effectively disincentivize the construction and operation of unabated methane-fired electricity plants.

• Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAMs)
• Immediate Methane Cuts Can Prevent Nearly a Million Premature Deaths 
• Health Impacts of Methane-Fired Electricity Plants 
• Ontario Should Pause Expansion of Methane-Fired Electricity Plants 
• Carbon Pricing and  Methane-fired Electricity Generation 
• Path to net-zero electricity can be found in recent federal budget 
• Canada’s Proposed Clean Electricity Regulations
• Carbon Capture and Sequestration is Risky Business

Additionally, we strongly recommend a cap on emissions. In fact, seven out ten Canadians support a cap on emissions. A cap is necessary to maintain geographical and sectoral balance in Canada’s economy as we transition to net-zero.

• Why CCL Canada is pushing for more than just carbon pricing
• Why we need a cap on GHGs in the oil and gas sector

Lastly, we are calling on our parliamentarians to explore Senator Rosa Galvez’s Bill S-243, An Act to enact the Climate-Aligned Finance Act (CAFA) and to make related amendments to other Acts. At this time we are asking our parliamentarians to review it, consider supporting it or possibly championing parts or all of it.

• Why CCL Canada is pushing for more than just carbon pricing
• Why we support the aligning Canada finance with the climate
• The UN Report: Integrity Matters

Please note that there will be training at the conference and you will be surrounded by veteran citizen lobbyists.
Canadian Climate Advocate Training Slides – with lots of resources embedded into them

If you would like to be trained beforehand we have set-up three training calls in May.

• Thursday, May 2,2024, 5:00 pm PT /8:00 pm ET
  https://citizensclimate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZckfu-trzoiG93qtAMQrAXdc8cROC0_J0G5#/registration 
• Thursday, May 16, 2024, 5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET
  https://citizensclimate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvcOCprjsqG9Gcj8xmUgGW5CPYeibwh39T#/registration 
• Thursday, May 23, 2024, 5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET
  https://citizensclimate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvcOCprjsqG9Gcj8xmUgGW5CPYeibwh39T#/registration 

Questions about lobbying, appointments with MPs?
Join these calls to get answers.

Every Monday in May, ask us anything.
May 6, 13, 20, 27, 2024
6 pm PT / 9 pm ET
Register here

The last two Fridays in May, ask us anything too.
May 24 and  31, 2024
9 am PT / 12 pm ET
Register here

About us:
We’re Canadian volunteers, non-partisan and proactive. We dedicate 5-10 hours monthly for a livable world, focusing on carbon pricing while supporting other climate efforts.

Discover our effective methods. Be part of something way bigger than yourself.