Networking Conference '08

This weekend I attended the Canada Networking Conference in Ottawa, brilliantly organized by the Manning Centre. About 150 delegates gathered to share views and experiences, as well as to hear from the likes of Preston Manning, Tony Clement, Mike Harris, Bernard Lord, Richard Prebble and many other distinguished politicians and members of the public who are involved in shaping public opinion and representing groups or constituencies.

I was particularly impressed by Tony Clement's recalling of his campaign and victory in the riding of Parry Sound-Muskoka with the smallest majority in the current Canadian House of Commons, a precious 28 votes achieved through tireless campaigning and literally "going the extra mile", often uphill in bad weather.

The healthcare panel discussion included Mike Harris, Quebec's Joanne Marcotte and the Canadian Medical Association President Brian Day, whose presence at our conference will doubtlessly be contested in the coming days. The speakers drew attention to many of the issues affecting Canada's Medicare and the funding system that generates the perverse perception of the patient as a cost rather than a customer. Surprisingly Quebec was singled out as one of the frontrunners in the introduction of greater private care and competition among hospitals. The recent Castonguay report highlights Quebec's desire to experiment with new approaches to tackle the difficulties faced by the province's Medicare.

Saturday saw Mark Textor from Australia and Richard Prebble from New Zealand sharing their political experiences and analyses, the session being aptly titled "Lessons from Down-Under". Prebble's remark about getting rid of agriculture subsidies drew a spontaneous round of applause and the obvious question as to how anyone could have managed to butcher such a sacred cow. Hon. Prebble maintained his humorous style and remarked that since there wasn't a gradual, painless and bloodless way to kill a cow (or something to that effect) they just shot it. If only EU countries could do the same to the CAP!

This was followed by Stephen Taylor's presentation on how blogging and social networking contribute to political activism and by a panel session on campaigning techniques. Unfortunately I was the victim of a post-lunch sleepiness attack half way through the latter and couldn't follow the discussion as closely as I would have loved to.

Former Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm's moving speech about the origins and present situation of democracy in Canada and Preston Manning's closing remarks wrapped up a fantastic two days.

I was delighted to meet fellow Blogging Tories Stephen Taylor, Sara of Choice for Childcare, Steve of Officially Screwed and Roy of Dr Roy's Thoughts. My views on gun ownership and general weapons policy were positively challenged by the Canadian Shooting Sports Association and I also met several Tories from other universities as well as local riding association coordinators. All in all an excellent opportunity to meet new people, learn more about canadian and worldwide conservatism and gain new insight into political activism. I very much look forward to next year's conference on the 13-14th of March 2009.