Candidate Meeting Checklist
Before the meeting
o Review the “Speaking points: What to say in your candidate meeting” and the “Affordable Child Care for All Plan” in this kit.
o Add notes about the specific situation in the candidate’s province/ territory. For instance, you can use the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) parent fee report to look up how many centres maintain waitlists or what the average cost of child care is in their city/region. Also, check the interactive CCPA map of child care deserts to see how many licensed spaces there are in the candidate’s riding relative to the number of children under school age.
o Confirm how long your meeting is.
o Decide who on your team will say what.
o Decide who will take notes.
o Plan to be at the meeting location 10 minutes early.
o Print the Affordable Child Care for All Plan, Letter to Candidates and #childcarechampion sign.
During the meeting
o Begin by introducing yourself and reconfirm how long you have.
o Take charge. You asked for the meeting, so you can lead the meeting. Present your position clearly and don’t be sidetracked.
o Listen well but don’t let the candidate talk so much that you don’t get a chance to do the same.
o Treat all questions calmly and seriously. You can learn a lot from the questions they ask.
o If you are asked a question you do not know the answer to, do not invent a response on the spot. Tell the candidate you will get back after the meeting with an answer.
o For the note taker: note if the candidate commits to something or refuses to commit to something.
o Have a copy of the Affordable Child Care for All Plan to leave with the candidate.
o Ask if you can take a photo with the candidate holding up the #ChildCareChampion sign.
o Do not prolong the meeting beyond the allotted time unless the candidate wants to continue.
After the meeting
o Debrief with your team right after the meeting. From your notes, do a quick one-page summary of the meeting (using the meeting report form in this kit)
o Flag any requests for additional information or questions raised that you could not answer.
o Flag any commitments that were made to you by the candidate.
o Decide who on the team will take responsibility for the follow-up.
o Send the candidate a thank you letter/email along with any information the candidate requested.
o Let others know what the candidate said; but make sure you give an accurate account. Other child care advocates will be casting their vote based at least partly on what positions the candidates are taking on child care. Also, candidates need to be held accountable for their positions.
