GET INVOLVED

Safe Rail Communities has all the resources and information you need to take action, from signing a petition to leading a community-wide effort.

GETTING STARTED

How to participate as residents

• Speak with your neighbours, family, and friends about this issue. • Sign a petition. • Take a petition around for others to sign (only 25 signatures are required to have your MP present a petition to parliament). • Attend meetings in your community. • Write letters to and speak to your government representatives

How to start a community-wide effort

Engage residents, business/community groups and government representatives

1. Engage residents:

• Speak to neighbours, family, and friends. • Host coffee parties or gatherings in your home. • Canvass door-to-door (all the materials you need are on our website) to raise awareness and collect petition signatures. • Participate in community events such as farmers’ markets, neighbourhood festivals, and any other community events.

2. Engage business and community groups

• Reach out to BIAs and residents associations (email, phone, or in-person). • Ask to speak or present at community meetings. • Ask businesses to support your group/efforts by:

i. displaying a poster in the window

ii.having a petition on site

iii. allowing you to take part in events hosted by BIA

iv. posting information about your effort in the BIA’s newsletter

• Ask community groups (residents groups, etc.) to post information about your efforts in their newsletter. • Ask local papers to post information about your effort.

3. Engage government representatives

• Send a letter/email or make a phone call to your municipal or federal representative. • Ask how they can support you on this issue. • Ask if they can broker a meeting or town hall with rail companies and government officials. • Ask for your federal MP’s support on your petition and have them present it to parliament. If your MP chooses not to present your petition, you can use our Safe Rail Communities petition (available on our website as well), supported by MP Peggy Nash. If your MP will present your petition, simply mail in signed sheets or take them into his/her office. If you choose to use the SRC petition, please mail signed petitions to Peggy’s address at the bottom of the petition.

CANVASS STRATEGY

How to organize a canvass

• Create a list of volunteers with emails (phone # if they don’t use email). • Schedule a specific day/days of the week to canvass. This makes it easier for volunteers to participate. Sunday afternoons generally work well for canvassing. • Hold a training session to help volunteers become familiar with your canvass strategy, share information, and outline materials, scripts, etc. that will be used during the canvass. • Send an email reminder to your volunteers at the beginning of the week, outlining the streets you will be canvassing and the meeting place for that week. • Always canvass in 2s or 3s, for safety and practical reasons. • Have a simple scripted message that everyone can use at the door. • Have a flyer or one-page sheet that you can leave with residents at the door (available on website). If residents aren’t home, leave this in the mailbox. • At the end of each canvass, meet to debrief and to hand-in materials.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO CANVASS

• tracking sheets, resident information sheets, petition, and flyer or one-pager (all available on our website) • pens, clipboards (legal and or letter-sized). • maps of the area • cell phone

INDIVIDUAL CANVASS TIPS

• Smile and make eye contact while you’re speaking. • Introduce yourself and your organization at the beginning. • If the person is busy or not interested it’s best to move on quickly. • If there’s a doorbell, push hard and listen for the sound of a bell. If there isn’t a doorbell or you don’t hear ringing, don’t be afraid to knock. • Canvassing can be pretty scary for people who haven’t done it before. So if you’re leading your group, be sure to give everyone lots of encouragement and support. • Always end the conversation on a positive note.