Prior to being elected President, I served as Chair of OREA’s Government Relations Committee. In that role I helped lead two of the largest advocacy campaigns in our association’s history against the harmonized sales tax (HST) and mandatory home energy audits. These campaigns illustrated to me the strength and credibility that the REALTOR® voice carries at Queen’s Park. They also showed that when our members speak in unison about issues that impact home owners and the housing industry, elected officials listen.The upcoming Ontario Election (October 6, 2011) is yet another opportunity for OREA and our members to speak up in support of REALTOR® issues at Queen’s Park. To this end, OREA will be hosting a two day Campaign College April 18-19th, 2011 at the Sutton Place Hotel in Toronto.
The College is designed to give OREA member boards the tools and information they need to advance REALTOR® issues during the October 6, 2011 Ontario Election. The College will replace our annual Political Affairs Conference for 2011 since MPPs will not return to Queen’s Park until later in the year.
The College will feature presentations from a number of Queen’s Park insiders and experts including Don Guy, Liberal Party Campaign Manager, Jim Wilson, Progressive Conservative (PC) MPP for Simcoe Grey, and Paul Ferreira, Senior Advisor to NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. The College will also feature a presentation on the latest provincial polling numbers from John Wright, Vice-President of Ipsos-Reid.
Finally, I am pleased to announce that OREA will also unveil a campaign to promote the importance of home ownership to political parties and local candidates during the 2011 provincial election. This campaign will ensure that our members speak in one unified voice during the build up to the 2011 Ontario Election.
Please stay tuned for further updates from OREA on how you can get involved in support of our efforts around the 2011 provincial election.
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