Ways to Contact Parliament
Your MP is always welcome to hear from you and other of their constituents! After all, you and your fellow constituents are the people who vote them into power, and can vote them out of power!
Make sure to remain professional and respectful in all of your communications with your MP and their office, no matter which avenue of communication you are using.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Keep in mind your MP’s preferred language when you are contacting them. This can be found on their House of Commons profile. While your program with The Borgen Project is in English, if the only language your MP lists as a preferred language is French, please contact their office in French.
Under the “contact” information on your MP’s House of Commons profile, you can find their direct email address. While not a formal letter, make sure to include your address at the bottom of your email. This allows the MP to verify that you are one of their constituents.
Phone Call
A simple and quick way to also contact your MP is by making a phone call to their office. Similar to finding their email address, the phone numbers for your MP’s Ottawa office and their riding office(s) can be found on their House of Commons profile. Generally, for the purposes that you will be calling about (political advocacy), it is best to call their Ottawa office if possible. While most times you will end up speaking to a staffer (or even leaving a voicemail), it’s possible that your MP could also be the one to pick up the phone and you would get the quick opportunity to talk to them directly!
Read more about calling your MP here.
Letter
Letter writing is one of the oldest ways of contacting and communicating with MPs, and remains a heavily impactful way. It is even more impactful and effective when handwritten rather than typed, as it adds a personal touch to the letter. When sending your letter in the mail, you should address it to your MP’s Ottawa office. A nice part of that is that any mail you send to a MP’s Ottawa office can be sent postage-free! Make sure you include your address both on the letter itself and on the envelope (as the return address).
Read more about writing a letter to your MP here.
Tweet
The age of social media has brought another way to quickly contact your MP and get their attention. Most MPs are on Twitter, and just a small Tweet directed to your MP to ask for support on a bill/issue can make them aware that you care and that they should take action. What’s nice about Tweeting is that it is simple too and can be done on-the-go! While you shouldn’t put your address or postal code in your tweet, make sure to mention your city/town, as that will indicate to your MP that you are one of their constituents.
Read more about using social media to contact your leader(s) here.
Fax
Though it isn’t as common anymore, and you will not be instructed during your Political Affairs program to fax your leader, MP offices do still accept letters by fax and there’s definitely no harm in contacting your MP via fax if it is something you would like to do! The fax number for your MP can typically be found on their House of Commons profile. If you were to fax your MP, it is best to send it to their Ottawa office.
Read more on the different ways to send something via fax here.