Student Handout #1
Key Points for Writing Powerful Letters

Key points to consider when writing a letter to a politician:

• Keep your tone polite.
• Do not make the letter too long - approximately one page typed or two pages of large handwriting is long enough. (Newspapers generally don’t print letters longer than 250 words.)
• State your case clearly.
• If a student or the class is aware of anything positive that the politician has done in regard to climate change, state it. For example, if the politician supports the Kyoto accord, acknowledge that..
• If a student is planning to criticize, encourage them to start with a couple of positive comments first.
• Express your concerns and support them with comments from others in your community.

Key points to consider when writing a Letter to the Editor: (Note: consider bringing in a well-written sample letter from the editorial page for students to use as a guideline)

• Deal with one topic and have one major message.
• Use a straightforward, factual approach.
• Put the main point at the beginning and progressively less important details towards the end.
• Keep the letter short (maximum 600 - 800 words).
• Make sure the letter is concise, grammatically correct, and has no spelling mistakes.
• Have someone edit the letter – everyone who reads the newspaper will see this letter so make sure it is clear and easy to understand.
• Back up your opinions with evidence.

Letters should include a return address that includes the student’s name, care of the teacher, and the school’s address.

Student Handout #2
Addresses for Politicians and Media

Political letters:

Members of Parliament (MPs):

All MPs can be contacted at this mailing address:

House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

To find the name and specific contact information for your MP, just enter your postal code at this website:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/House/PostalCode.asp?lang=E

Members of the Legislature (MLAs)

To find the contact information for your MLA, go to these websites:

NWT: http://www.gov.nt.ca/research/mla/
Yukon: http://www.gov.yk.ca/leg-assembly/mlas/
Nunavut: http://www.assembly.nu.ca/english/members/

Newspapers:

Yukon:

Yukon News
Media North Ltd.
211 Wood Street
Whitehorse, Yukon, Y1A 2E4
Telephone: (867) 667-6285 - Fax: (867) 668-3755
Email: plesniak@yukon-news.com

Whitehorse Star
2149 Second Ave
Whitehorse, Yukon, YIA 1C5
Email: star@whitehorsestar.com

NWT:

Yellowknifer
P.O. Box 2820
Yellowknife, NT, X1A 2R1
Phone: 867-873-4031; Fax: 867-873-8507
Editorial department email: editorial@nnsl.com

For a list of all newspapers in NWT and their addresses: http://www.altstuff.com/newsnt.htm

Nunavut:

Nunatsiaq News
PO Box 8
Iqaluit, NU, X0A 0H0
Ph. (867) 979-5357; Fax (867) 979-4763
Email: editor@nunatsiaq.com

National:

Globe and Mail
E-mail: Letters@GlobeAndMail.com
(Note: The Globe and Mail requests that you send letters in the body of the email and not as an attachment)
Fax: 1-416-585-5085