Wondering how you can help resolve Indigenous land rights issues? Tell your elected representatives that you want them to resolve Indigenous land rights and land titles issues ... - fairly - in good faith - without even a hint of "sharp dealing" - promptly providing all relevant research and documents - promptly make decisions on the Crown's culpability - promptly acknowledge successful land claims publicly - promptly arrange land transfers/payment Label it 'Open letter to ...' (This allows the media to print it.) Email your MP, MPP, city councillor. cc the Prime Minister, Premier, Mayor, and the executives of each political party cc local and national media cc the appropriate 'critics' from the other parties Post your letter(s) on a blog Email them the blog link a few days later, to let them know it is public and you are persistent. Email your letter to everyone you know, and more, and ask them to forward it again to the people listed above, with their own comments. You may receive nothing but an automatic acknowledgment. Do not be discourage by this. All mail is read and summarized for the 'boss'. A policy analyst is assigned to particular issues and will brief the 'boss' on what has been received. The policy analyst who reads your letters is the real expert, and is the one who advises the 'boss' on policy decisions for that issue. YOUR LETTERS COUNT! Every letter is estimated to reflect 100 votes. Politicians only care about votes. -->Politicians care about your letters. Don't overdo it, but sending follow-up letters is a good idea too. Let them know that you are still following what they do on the issue, and are still concerned. It is good for them to get to know your name and what you stand for. They may well pay more attention to future letters, especially if you continue to email them to the media as well. It doesn't really matter if the media print them, only that the politicians think they might. REMEMBER! Politicians do not care about 'doing the right thing'. They only care about votes. Appeal to what they care about. Humane pleas for them to 'do the right thing' are useless with Canadian politicians. Tell them how it will gain or lose them votes. That is the only language that Canadian politicians understand. NOTE TO SELF: Some day we must investigate how we allowed all of our politicians to become such useless, fatuous airheads, and how we can replace them with some leaders who are intelligent, well-intentioned and competent instead. Presently the system eats real people for breakfast, so they seldom stand for election. However, for the moment ... address your letter to flatter and cajole them with votes, and don't forget to tell them how dashing they look! (I guarantee that message will get through!) PS ... Some women politicians may not fall for flattery and cajoling, unless they are Tories. Women are more likely to retain some bullshit detectors. Be judicious and don't overdo the goo! Now get writing... g