Before the dust had settled on Election 43, nearly 350 members of the REALTOR® community gathered in Ottawa for the 34th annual Political Action Committee (PAC) Days.
Even though this year’s PAC Days occurred during an election period and Members of Parliament (MPs) weren’t on Parliament Hill to meet with PAC Reps, the three-day conference was tremendously received—the highlight being a National Housing Debate that was broadcast live online on the Cable Public Affairs Channel. We partnered with the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, the Canadian Homebuilders’ Association, the Co-Operative Housing Federation of Canada, and the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness to host the debate, which included the Liberals’ Adam Vaughan, the Conservatives’ Pierre Poilievre, Bloc Québécois’ Geneviève Nadeau, the NDP’s Angella MacEwen and the Green Party’s Angela Keller-Herzog.
Participants this year were treated to breakout sessions, panel discussions and seminars led by a distinguished group of journalists, pollsters and political strategists, including former speechwriter for former U.S. President George W. Bush, David Frum; world-renowned urban planner and former Toronto mayoral candidate, Jennifer Keesmaat; and Canadian public opinion pollster, Nik Nanos.
Deep learning took place during an interactive session of mock MP meetings. Five different teams of REALTOR® PAC reps were given scenario notes and asked to advocate for homeownership – with former MPs, the Honourable Deb Grey and Don Boudria, playing a role of the politician being lobbied. Another former MP, the Honourable Joe Jordan, would stop the mock meetings to point out what was going well and what was going wrong so that all in the audience came away with practical tips and tricks for conducting an effective meeting. This session proved to be both popular and incredibly educational.
“Participants developed a better understanding of the political landscape, as well as the mechanics of government relations, leaving them better equipped to conduct meetings with their MPs both on the Hill and especially at home,” says Darcy McLeod, a REALTOR® and Federal Affairs Committee Chair. “This is of considerable importance with a minority government that will need support from opposition MPs to pass legislation in the House.”
We also celebrated the well-deserved winners of the year’s Outstanding PAC Team Award: the Nova Scotia Association of REALTORS® (large board) and the Saint John Real Estate Board (small board). The winner of this year’s Beauchamp Award recognizing individual PAC achievements was Winnipeg’s Kourosh Doustshenas.
Next year will mark the 35th edition of PAC Days and we hope to see you there. Stay tuned to REALTORActionNetwork.ca for ongoing federal affairs updates.
