1. Policy and Strategy: Priorities Diamond Creation
pre-conference
At the transition conference, delegates brainstormed a collection of issues. Home Office prepared a series of conference re-
search papers, building on past understanding to assist delegates in ask generation and roundtable discussions, though inde-
pendent research is always encouraged.
1
ballot creation
independent research speeches 9h00 - 10h00 Example
After transitions, Delegate
A conducted independent
at-large research on a topic in PSE. She
presentations developed her initial ask over
the summer and presents it to
the membership in a speech.
Delegates who wish to propose initial asks based on research not provided by home After her speech the initial ask
office will have the opportunity to speak to the whole membership on their proposal. is added to the ballot and will
Initial asks from these speeches will be directly submitted to the ballot. be discussed further in the
afternoon.
2 conference research ask generation 10h00 - 12h00
Example
Delegate A found the confer-
ence research on tax credits
table 1 table 2 table 3 insightful. She went to the
table responsible for discuss-
ing tax credits and met some
Delegates will have an opportunity to discuss the conference research with other del- like-minded delegates. Together
egates. The goal of this exercise is to identify initial asks to be submitted to the ballot. they crafted an initial ask which
Discussion will occur at three tables, divided by subject, where a CASA staff member they submitted to the ballot.
will provide support. Delegates will be able to roam from table during the discussions.
Initial ask definition
Delegates will be submitting and voting on ‘initial asks.’ An initial ask is a specific action, policy initiative, legislative or regulato-
ry change. They are meant to be ambitious: they are raw desires, which will be modified after research and strategic deliberation.
A note on duplication
Delegates are asked to be aware of ask duplication. When possible, please consider amalgamating initial asks, so as to ensure
that CASA can have a comprehensive discussion on the issues in the afternoon.
lunch
ballots are printed and distributed

2. 3
discussion
roundtables 13h00 - 16h00 Example
Delegate A goes to the table
where the initial asks on tax
credits will be discussed. Once
table 1 table 2 table 3 there she can discuss the five
initial asks put forward on tax
x2 credits. This discussion will al-
Each initial ask submitted for the ballot from the ballot creation session will be clus- low her, and the other delegates
tered into similar subjects, such as first nations and the loans program, and each sub- present, to evaluate their op-
ject will be discussed at a roundtable. Delegates are free to roam to the subject discus- tions and to make an informed
sion that interests them the most. A CASA staff member will be stationed at each table choice when balloting.
to facilitate discussion.
4
balloting 16h00 - 17h30
Upon the completion of the roundtable discussion, delegates will be given time to re-
Example
Delegate A’s association meets
view their notes, discuss amongst their colleagues and fill out their single member to identify what initial asks
association’s prioritization ballot. It is an approval ballot, so delegates check those pro- should be priorities and they fill
posals that they believe should be priorities and leave blank those which they think out and submit their priority
should not. The top proposals are declared the priorities for the year. ballot.
dinner
ballots are counted and results announced
5
workflow assessment
policy and opportunity assessments 18h30 - 20h30 Example
Delegate A decides to attend the
Policy assessment room while
policy opportu- the other delegates from her
room nity room association attend the Oppor-
tunity room. Inside, she works
with other delegates to identify
Delegates will decide to attend one of two assessment sessions: Opportunity or Policy. which priorities have sufficient
Opportunity is a measure of political feasibility given political will and CASA’s political policy, and which may need
capital, and policy is a measure of whether or not CASA’s policy is current, compre- more in the year to come. Once
hensive and sensitive. The results from each session will be brought together to form both rooms are completed,
the policy development framework diamond, which is the organization’s work plan for CASA staff will put together the
the year. diamond.
results
The policy and opportunity assessments create the policy development framework diamond for the year, and a draft will be
circulated by morning. Pending approval at plenary, the diamond is the working plan for CASA’s priorities for the year, with
asks being tabled to the policy committee and national lobby team for further action.