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British Columbians went to the polls on Saturday. Elections BC has counted all 93 ridings, though results stay preliminary until the final count on November 6 to 10. Some winners are walking back into offices they know well. Many are just learning where the coffee machine is.
Whoever ends up representing your riding, that person is your most direct line to the legislature. The work of earning their attention starts now, and it starts with you.
A win doesn't tell you what they know
I've spent a good part of my career in and around politics. I've worked on campaigns riding by riding, served as a provincial co-campaign chair, worked in constituency offices, and served as Special Advisor to Alberta's Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation.
The biggest lesson from all of it is simple. An election result tells you who won. It doesn't tell you what they know.
Platforms are written centrally. Candidates get briefed on the big issues and sent out to knock on doors. A new MLA might be able to repeat their party's line on tourism, but that's a long way from knowing what tourism is worth in their own riding, who it employs, or what's keeping your operators up at night. A returning MLA may know more, but a lot has changed for our industry since the last election.
That isn't a criticism. People run for office because they care about their communities, not because they've memorized the local visitor economy. Filling in the blanks is our job. The organizations that do it early, and keep doing it, become the ones an MLA's office calls first.
Relationship first
Before the data, before the campaign, before the ask, there's a relationship.
New MLAs spend their first months figuring out who's who in their riding. Be one of the people they meet early. Send a short congratulations note.
Introduce yourself and what you do. Offer to show them around your business or your destination. Don't attach a report and don't make an ask yet.
If your MLA is returning, the same applies. Congratulate them, remind them who you are, and tell them you're looking forward to working together this term.
Data is the language they speak
Elected officials are there to represent their constituents, so the information that moves them is information about their constituents: jobs in their riding, spending in their riding, businesses in their riding.
When I worked in government, the organizations that sent us clear, local numbers became trusted sources. That trust is the whole point of getting the numbers right.
This is why TIABC's Tourism Counts initiative matters. It puts riding-by-riding numbers on what tourism means across all 93 ridings. You don't have to argue that tourism is important in the abstract. You can show your MLA what it's worth to the people who elected them.
Know what you're asking for
This is where a lot of advocacy stalls. "Support tourism" isn't an ask. Nobody in government can say yes to it.
TIABC carries the provincial priorities for our industry. Your job is to know what matters most where you are. Before you sit down with your MLA, work through these questions:
- What is the one thing government could do, or stop doing, that would make the biggest difference to your business or region?
- Who already agrees with you? Who are your champions?
- Does your MLA understand the numbers behind tourism in your riding?
- What data are you missing that would make your case stronger?
You won't have every answer right away, and that's fine. Once the first conversation is underway, build your case. Find the allies who already agree with you. Make sure your own community understands what tourism does for it. Take your local numbers public. Then turn that support into names you can bring back to your MLA.
Where to start
- Find your riding's Tourism Counts numbers and pick the one that matters most to you.
- Write your ask in one sentence, for your own prep rather than the note. If it takes a paragraph, keep cutting.
- Send your MLA a short congratulations note with an offer to meet. Save the data for the meeting.
Stronger together
One of the most interesting things about tourism is its reach. It is one of the largest employers in British Columbia, and Tourism Counts shows tourism businesses and jobs in every one of the province's 93 ridings. Every MLA has tourism in their community.
That reach is our advantage, and it only works if we use it together. When operators, DMOs and associations line up on the message, use the same numbers, and tell the same story to every MLA, government hears one consistent voice from every corner of the province. Do that well, and tourism is hard to overlook.
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