Shelley and I followed the local municipal elections very closely this year because of the direct impact they have on our family. While we do see advocacy at a provincial and federal level as important, it does not have nearly the impact on our family as the municipal level. I suspect that might be a surprise to you. It is important to remember our civic lessons and what the three levels of government are responsible for. At the federal level, their decisions generally have little impact on us. Yes, the Disability Tax Credit and some of the Justice decisions are important but really that is about it. At the provincial level, it is really about money. It can be frustrating having to go from school board to school board, not being eligible for funding and support, and not having medical capacity, but really our provincial advocacy is about ensuring we have want we need in our local school and municipality. Our municipality is really where we focus. Our municipality is the one that determines our recreation options, they determine our policing policies, they determine the environment and setting around our house, our municipality influences our local hospital policies, and they determine our housing options. This is why we were very excited to see our local results. We have lots of familiar faces and good people to work with.
There are several reasons why you want to focus on local advocacy. Even though Shelley and I have only been FASD advocates for three years now, we have been local volunteers and advocates for decades. It has been at the local level that we have practiced and polished our advocacy abilities. We have learned how to do a powerful ten minute presentation as a delegation. We have learned the importance of following channels. We know it is about establishing relationships and backing it up with being contributing member to our community. Lanark County recently established Sept 9 as FASD Awareness Day as well through a declaration by the outgoing warden. It was commented to me by a Council Council member they were surprised to see that happen because most of the time those requests get rejected. I told him there were several factors but the main one was Reeve Richard Kidd from Beckwith Township pushed it for us. When we talked afterwards I thank him and his reply was "When you do as much for the community as you do, you should get something for that." Shelley and I never approached advocacy from an entitlement perspective, we never think we deserve this, we are just thankful when we do receive help. The other nice thing about municipal advocacy is you don't deal with the layers you see at the provincial and federal levels. You just call the reeve or mayor and talk face to face with them. You also learn quickly what will sell and what won't. Once you convince them, then you go as a delegation to council and you have ten minutes to sell them. I always bring one of my children and speak as a representative of our local support group. Explain who you are and what FASD is in three minutes, share the challenges you are facing today in two minutes, tell what your one or two main asks are and how they will make a positive impact on your child and group in two minutes, and wait for the questions. I love local advocacy because things change rapidly and you see the immediate difference. Provincial and federal advocacy is months and years of work, municipal advocacy is days and weeks and you don't need anyone else besides yourself. The last part of municipal advocacy is the local networking. Local media will cover it and bring awareness, other organizations will contact you to partner and support, and civic minded people will help you raise funds and awareness. Your local county council and warden in particular also serves as our advocates at the provincial level.
It is easy to get discouraged at times at how slowly things change but don't lose sight of the fact the greatest impact you will ever have is at your local level. You have your greatest impact on your family followed by your community. If you make a difference for your family, friends and neighbors, that is a noble accomplishment.
