AMO Guide to Delegation Meetings

Tips to Request, Prepare and Participate in Delegation Meetings

The AMO Annual Conference offers an excellent opportunity for municipal leaders to meet face-to-face with provincial ministers and advocate for issues critical to their local communities. 

The following guide outlines best practices to help AMO members get the most out of your delegation meetings. You will find advice on the full delegation process, from submitting your request for a delegation through following-up after your successful meeting. 

When submitting your delegation request: 

  • Select topics that are appropriate for a delegation meeting.
    • Delegation meetings are short, and fifteen minutes is not a lot of time to have a substantive discussion. When requesting a delegation think strategically about whether the topic requires a face-to-face conversation and whether 15 minutes will provide sufficient discussion time.   
  • Be specific about the issue you wish to discuss. 
    • The more detail you can include in your delegation request, the better ministry officials will be able to prepare the Minister for the conversation. 
Cross Mark

 

“Paramedic Services” will lead to broad talking points from the Minister about government investments in paramedicine and the important role that paramedicine plays in Ontario’s broader healthcare sector 

 Check mark

 

 “Non-Urgent Health Transfers due to centralization of diagnostic imaging technology are resulting in limited paramedic capacity to respond to local health emergencies” will elicit a more specific response from the Minister.

 

  • Provide appropriate contact information. 
    • Staff at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing may follow-up to request additional information on your delegation request. Provide contact information for someone who will be available to speak to the request in detail. 

When preparing for your delegation meeting: 

  • Share supporting materials in advance to aid ministry officials in developing briefing materials. 
    • Most ministries prepare detailed briefing notes to support Ministers and Parliamentary Assistants in delegation meetings, including key messages and background for the discussion. 
    • Supporting materials will have the most impact if shared at least two weeks (but ideally even early) before your delegation meeting. This gives sufficient time for them to reach the appropriate ministry staff and inform the briefing materials they are developing. Materials shared during the meeting won’t help inform the conversation and are likely to get missed in a large pile of paper.
    • Supporting material should be concise (i.e., fewer than five pages) and focused so ministry officials can clearly understand the issue for discussion and your objectives for the meeting.  

During your meeting with a Minister or Parliamentary Assistant: 

  • Be clear on your objectives for the conversation: 
    • Have a clear objective for each meeting and try and steer the conversation back toward that objective throughout. Objectives could include securing a commitment from the Minister, getting the Minister to direct his or her ministry to take action on your concern, or simply getting the contact information for the person in the Ministry who can actually help you. 
    • If the minister or parliamentary assistant attempts to redirect your questions about a specific local issue to more general provincial speaking points don’t hesitate to reiterate your questions and bring the conversation back to your local concern. 
  • Ensure your opening pitch is short and focused. 
    • AMO Conference delegations give a unique opportunity for municipal leaders to ask direct questions of their provincial counterparts and press for direct answers. Make your initial presentation very concise so most of the meeting can be spent hearing from the Minister or Parliamentary Assistant and pressing them on their answers to your questions. 
  • Connect your issue with government priorities. 
    • It can be helpful to outline why addressing your issue is important or helpful for the government and how it is aligned with provincial. Ministers and parliamentary assistants will be taking meetings about local concerns all day and making it easier for them to see why they should help you is important. 
  • Show your homework. 
    • Outline previous conversations you’ve had with ministry staff and where you’ve faced roadblocks. Be specific about where you need the minister to intervene to help overcome a barrier. 
  • Make your delegation meeting the start of a conversation and ask for contact information for follow up. 
    • Ministers are often supported in delegation meetings by both political staff from their office and by ministry officials. Before your meeting ends ask for the contact information for the person in the Ministry that you can continue speaking with about your issue. 
    • If you’re unable to get this information, you can find contact information for staff in the Minister’s Office on InfoGo. Often a Chief of Staff or Director of Policy are good entry points for further conversations.