Over the years I’ve developed a habit of writing politicians. I shared this habit with my friend Norbert and I after that chat I decided to share it here in case you want to develop a similar habit.
If you want to write politicians like me, you need to know how to contact those pols that mean the most to you. For me those three are the mayor, the premier of the province and the prime minister. The mayor is reachable by email so I have that address handy. The other two are reachable via a web form, so I have that info in hand also.
I have a template that I use for letters I write to each of them. When I want to write them about an issue, I pull up the template and fill it in. I usually say what the issue is, then what I would like them to do about the issue. Then I send it.
That’s it! It’s a two step process. Very quick. Occasionally I will follow up, but the purpose is really to register my voice. I don’t expect anything other than a canned response. Only one politician’s team, Mayor John Tory, ever made an effort to respond in a more personal manner.
While I do write about issues, I will also write politicians of all sorts and compliment them if they do something I approve of. Typically these will be constructive actions and often ones where politicians are working together.
I write politicians in a style I use for anyone who works for me, because they do. I don’t insult them or get angry with them: I find that never works when it comes to influencing someone I want to change.
Ideally I would write at least one politician a week but it’s more the case I write one a month.
I hope you can take up this habit. It makes me feel like I am doing something small but important in our democracy. Just like voting is small but also important. Good luck with it.
Smart People I Know 