Canada is days away from the official start of the 2019 election period. Hosting an event during the election campaign can be a great way to discuss important issues with candidates and educate members of your community. Meetings can be structured in various ways, including roundtable discussions, town hall meetings or a more standard debate-style.
- Roundtable discussion: involves a group of people discussing a specific topic. Those included in the discussion agree that each person has an equal right to participate.
- Town hall meeting: an informal meeting for those in a specific community to voice opinions and ask questions to public figures.
- Debates: focused on two sides of a particular issue. Each group takes a position and they explain why they are correct about this issue. This can be useful for understand different perspectives.
Organizing a public meeting:
- Determine the purpose of holding the meeting. Keep a clear and tangible focus.
- Approach other groups who might want to help organize or attend the event, and invite representatives from relevant organizations as well.
- Choose a public place with adequate accessibility, seating capacity, and sound system.
- Publicize:
- Send a public service announcement to the media and post bulletins in the community.
- Prepare a press release summarizing the background to, and purpose of, the meeting
- Contact media and invite them to cover the event
- Use social media to make the event known to more people
- Invite local representatives, federal candidates and, where possible, elected officials responsible for the issue to attend.
- Distribute responsibilities for welcoming, chairing the meeting, moderating a debate, introducing speakers, arranging for audio-visual equipment, etc.
- Determine meeting format and time limit.
- Have informational materials available.
Learn more from CPJ’s Advocacy Toolkit.
