I have often found myself in conversation with a person who, for any number of reasons, is angry with the government regarding legislation that is in the works or in the process of being made into law. Then I suggest to them that they write to their representative about the issue that concerns them. The response I get to this type of suggestion varies but invariably comes down to 'No, I won't be doing that.'
With that decision not to voice their concerns and opinions to their government representative a person gives up their right to their democratic participation in their country. I have a suspicion that most people feel that they vote and that's all the control they have over their government.
People may feel that sending a letter to a government representative may be a waste of their time because the opinion they will express in such a letter will be ignored, or that they are only a single individual and the weight of their expressed opinion will be negligible. There is probably some truth to that but I know of a few instances where people have taken their problem to their representative in the government and action was taken on their behalf. It comes down to this: if you don't inform your representative of your concerns and opinions there is absolutely no way they can know them and take them into account.
Here is a list, taken from Post Canada's web site, (Government Mail Free of Postage) of government representatives that you can send letters to without affixing any postage to the envelopes.
- the Governor General
- the Speaker or Clerk of the Senate or House of Commons
- the Parliamentary Librarian or the Associate Parliamentary Librarian
- Members of the Senate
- Members of the House of Commons
- the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner or Senate Ethics Officer
I plan on posting more information on this topic.
