Page 14 - GBC Fall 2024 ENG

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Golf Business Canada
Senator Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia (Newfoundland and Labrador) in conversation with Jeff Calderwood (CEO NGCOA Canada) during the evening reception.
I also had many other productive meetings, including with the Minister of Tourism, Chief of Staff of the Minister of Small Business, Senior policy Advisor to Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre and MP Jenna Sudds, among others.
In addition to those scheduled meetings, we invited all MPs, Policy Advisors and Senators to our National Golf Day Reception, hosted at Mulligans Golf Bar. Attendance was well over 100, which is exceptional for such an event. The lounge included golf simulators and a putting surface, so we ran closest-to-the-pin and long-drive contests, as well as free swing tips from our golf pros. They are still talking about it on the Hill!
Although our reception bar tab was over budget, that is actually a great indication of the effective engagement we accomplished. As a result, I now have many additional relationships started with legislators throughout the country. Some were avid golfers, such as MP James Maloney in Etobicoke, MP Blake Richards in Banff, and MP Larry Maguire in Brandon-Souris, and Senator Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia from Newfoundland and Labrador.
Others had various related interests, such as MP Adam van Koeverden from Milton. In addition to his riding role, he is the Official Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Sport & Physical Activity. He serves a similar role for the Minister of the Environment. Of course, he also has his Team Canada Olympic legacy to talk about, and I happened to have dinner with his father in Niagara Falls back in 2007. Valuable relationship building. His parting words were “Just let me know how I can help in the future.” Identifying “champions” like that who we can rely upon to support golf is the ultimate example of creating effective government relations.
During that reception, MPs were also invited to record video messages expressing their support for golf, as well as autographing our very large National Golf Day sign. Those video clips, along with dozens of photographs, are now available for us to leverage for subsequent publicity.
We also conducted a NAGA Press Conference the morning of National Golf Day, held in the dedicated Press Conference Room at West Block.
As NAGA Chair, I opened with welcoming remarks and commentary about the results of our Economic Impact Study released that day. Laurence Applebaum followed with additional content focused upon the health and safety, diversity, environmental stewardship, golf as Canada’s #1 participation sport and our National Opens. Louise Patry then summarized our messages in French. This Press Conference was broadcast live nationally on CPAC, as well as directly into the office of each Parliamentarian, further broadening our reach.
Subsequently, various media interviews were also conducted, both on-site and remotely across Canada. These provided a great opportunity to elaborate further upon all that golf provides to Canadian society. Over the years, I have done close to 200 media interviews promoting the positive virtues of golf. I find them to be very effective communication tools, as long as our messaging gets managed very carefully. More on that later in this article.
Social media communications by each golf association and their respective stakeholders further propelled the celebration of Canadian golf’s many positive attributes.
The evening reception at Mulligans Golf Bar provided a fun end to the day for everyone.