THE HILL TIMES, MONDAY, MARCH 2, 201516 THE HILL TIMES, MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015

MANNING NETWORKING CONFERENCE 2015 BIG PICTURE MANNING NETWORKING CONFERENCE 2015 BIG PICTURE

frastructure Minister Denis Lebel (Roberval-Lac Saint Jean, Que.).

Conservative MP Steven Fletcher (Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia, Man.) will be attending the networking conference as a panelist and said he’s looking forward to the conversations he’ll be having. “I think it will be an interesting networking experience both for the participants and the politicians and the politicos,” he told The Hill Times. “Even within the Conservative Party, it’s not one monolithic point of view. There are lots of different viewpoints and it will be an ability to exchange those ideas.”

Mr. Baran said the event’s success and growth over the years is because of founder Preston Manning’s personal style. The for-mer Reform Leader who left politics in 2001 has become “a post-partisan senior states-man,” Mr. Baran said, which is good for the public policy environment.

“When people who are retired from poli-tics stay out of the day-to-day debates about politics and public policy and focus on this kind of work, it helps to foster less partisan opportunities for the discussion of ideas,” said Mr. Baran, a former Conservative min-isterial staffer, noting the U.S. tradition of former presidents staying out of the politics of government once they leave office.

“I would like to see that kind of a tradition develop more strongly in Canada. I think it actually does a disservice when you have for-mer prime ministers and former party leaders weighing in on topics of discussion for the House of Commons and saying, ‘I think the government’s on the wrong track,’ or ‘I think the government ought to do this.’ I think it’s a

little indecorous and I think it’s a missed op-portunity for our senior statesmen to do pre-cisely the kinds of things that Mr. Manning is doing, taking a post-partisan approach and creating a more sting-free environment for an open exchange of ideas,” said Mr. Baran.

Mr. Baran pointed to the recent joint statement by former prime ministers Brian Mulroney, Joe Clark, Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien regarding Bill C-51, the Anti-Terror-ism Bill, as an example of how former leaders should not weigh in on so deeply on the legislation of the day. “I think all of them as a group should be playing more of the kind of role that Preston Manning, and frankly Ed Broadbent are playing. Stay out of the day-to-day and try to convene ideas,” he said. “I think there’s a big hunger for that. I think that hunger is what has largely contributed to the success of the Manning conference.”

Summa Strategies vice-chair Tim Powers said the Manning Centre’s Networking Con-ference plays a vital role in bringing public policy debate to the forefront.

“I have a great regard for Mr. Manning and what he’s been able to achieve with the Manning Centre is good in terms of bringing people together on an annual basis, setting up university training programs and other ed-ucational opportunities, forcing the debate on different issues, forcing in this case Conser-vatives to think about how they look at con-temporary issues free of some of the partisan shackles. I think the Manning Centre plays a vital role, yes, as the Broadbent Institute does on the left,” he told The Hill Times.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 513:00 Registration19:00 Opening reception Trillion Ballroom (4th floor)

FRIDAY MARCH 607:30 Breakfast & registration8:45 Opening session Ottawa Salon9:30 Coffee break & move to break out sessions10:00 Strengthening the confidence of taxpayers and investors Finance Minister Joe Oliver, Questerre Energy’s Michael Binnion & PC GTA Rebuild Working Group co-chair Robin Martin Strengthening federal-provincial relations: Finding common ground 08 Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel & journalist Tasha Kheiriddin Market-based environmental conservation 206 Energy and Enterprise Initiative executive director Bob Inglis, Clean Prosperity’s Kristyn Annis, former MP Monte Solberg and Global Public Affairs’ Ti Kennedy How Facebook can help power your campaigns: Learn about Facebook best practices 205 and on how other campaigns have successfully used Facebook in 2014 Facebook’s Kevin Chan and Kaite Harbath11:15 Manning Barometer: The pulse of the movement Results of a national public opinion survey with Summa Strategies’ Jim Armour, National Post columnist John Ivison, Ottawa salon Toronto Star reporter Susan Delacourt and i2 CEO Rick Anderson 12:15 Lunch Trillion Ballroom (4th floor) Nation Builder with Mike Moschella and Sam Shaw 201 Student lunch: The new generation 204 A panel of young men and women with exciting careers discuss how students can obtain a career in the movement. Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Aaron Gunn, Alanna Newman, Brockville city councilor Leigh Bursey, Marc-Olivier Fortin, Paige Macpherson and Morgan Nagel13:15 Energy, environment and the economy Ottawa Salon Alberta Premier Jim Prentice and Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski14:30 Coffee break and move to break out sessions15:00 Technology and politics in the 21st century: How technology is changing politics Ottawa salon Industry Minister James Moore, Treasury Board President Tony Clement, Google’s Colin McKay and political strategist Rick Anderson How to win public support for an infrastructure project: Lessons learned from the Confederation 208 Bridge Project Transport Minister Lisa Raitt, Strait Crossing Inc president and CEO Paul Giannelia, Global Public Affars’ Randy Pettipas and Energy Brookfield chair of asset management Jim Gray Crisis Communications in the age of social media: social media techniques to properly get your 206 message out there University of Calgary professor Tom Flanagan, Morten Paulsen and Thompson MacDonald Family taxation policy: Who benefits from income splitting? 207 Marriage and Family of Canada executive director Andrea Mrozek Webinar: Transforming the way we tell stories with author Jonah Sachs 205 Viral storyteller Jonah Sachs will break down what he’s learned over a decade of telling stories that have amused, enlightened and engaged millions worldwide.16:15 U.K. Conservatism: The way forward Ottawa salon U.K. Secretary of State Iain Duncan Smith17:30 Sundown 5:53 p.m. 201 Join CIJA and CJPAC to welcome the Jewish Sabbath20:00 Manning Rocks the Capital social event Metropolitan Special guest: Jarvis Church

SATURDAY, MARCH 707:30 Breakfast & registration Trillion Ballroom (4th floor)8:45 Ethics and the American idea with Father Scirico and Ray Pennings Ottawa salon Is the survival of a free society linked to building a culture that is virtuous? Fr. Sirico will consider the question through the lenses of history and contemporary threats to freedom and prosperity9:30 Coffee break and move to break out sessions10:00 Strengthening labour market confidence Ottawa salon Canadian National Railway’s Sean Finn and AFL-CIO’s Andrew Dawson Glamour and Politics: What makes some politicians glamourous? 208 Virginia Postrel Strengthening business confidence: What policies are required to strengthen the confidence of business in the economy? Small Business and Tourism Minister of State Maxime Bernier, Canadian Riterate Energy VP Robert Faissal, Millennium Foundation executive director Dino Mazzone, Sotheby’s International Realty Winston Chan and CFIB chair Catherine Swift Euthanasia: Next steps 206 Supreme Court: Policy maker of the year? University of Saskatchewan’s Dwight Newman, University of Calgary’s Ian Brodie and Rainer Knopff11:15 Threats to democracy: Russia, China and Islamic Extremism Ottawa salon Martin Lee, Hong Kong Democracy Activist12:15 Lunch Trillion Ballroom (4th floor) The 24-second news cycle: Capturing voters attention online 204 Vincent Harris will look at today’s fragmented media environment with a focus on online media and how activists can better use digital tools to get across their message.13:15 State of the Conservative movement Ottawa salon14:00 Student Career Symposium Trillion Ballroom (4th floor)14:15 Coffee break and move to break out sessions14:45 C2C Journal 208 Featuring contributors to the spring edition, including Monte Solberg, Philip Cross, Elizabeth Nickerson, Brigitte Pellerin, Rainer Knopff, Lydia Miljan, Paul Beaudry and Colby Cosh. Conservatives and the city 206 Jeromy Farkas, Peter McCaffrey and Stephanie Kusie provide key insights to bring you up to date on issues facing Canada’s urban environments. Women in Politics 207 Minister of Status of Women Kellie Leitch, Summa Strategies’ Michele Austin and Equal Voice’s Raylene Lang-Dion discuss a new survey and poll results. GooglElection: Google’s new campaign tools with Colin McKay 20516:00 What it really means to be Canadian, with Rex Murphy Ottawa salon16:45 Closing remarks Chuck Strahl Ottawa salon

MANNING CENTRE NETWORKING CONFERENCE

MNC 2015

17

By Bea Vongdouangchanh

In its seventh year, the Manning Networking Conference has

become a “must-attend” event in political and public policy circles, say regular attendees.

“It’s improved every year and I think it’s gotten bigger every year, and it is by now has definitely become a must-attend event for the public policy conscious and not

only for Conservatives,” Earnscliffe Strategy Group’s Yaroslav Baran told The Hill Times.

“I see more and more non-Conservatives coming to the event every year because of the calibre of speakers, because of the topics of discussion and because the conference has been able to foster a sort of style where people drop their talking points and official messaging at the door and speak

more freely and candidly. In a city like Ottawa, that’s a very refresh-ing forum to see, it’s a staple of our public policy discussion ecosys-tem,” said Mr. Baran.

Former Conservative Cabinet staffer Erik Waddell agreed. He said it’s “an annual touchstone event” for both big and small ‘c’ Canadian conservatives.

“The conference provides a place to discuss and debate cur-

rent issues of concern, but also for exploring new ideas,” he said. “I have always found it to be an en-vironment of real and constructive debate—sometimes quite heated—among different ideas and visions for the future of the conservative movement.”

The Manning Networking Con-ference takes place March 5 to 7 at Ottawa’s Shaw Centre. It bills itself as a conference that “brings togeth-er conservative-oriented thinkers, students, activists, politicians and interest groups to further develop and create a stronger conservative movement.”

This year’s theme is “The Way Forward Together,” and features

public policy discussions on the economy, security, technology, the environment and political organization.

Eight Cabinet ministers are scheduled to speak: Finance Minis-ter Joe Oliver (Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont.), Transport Minister Lisa Raitt (Halton, Ont.), Defence Minister Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, Alta.), Small Business and Tourism Minister of State Maxime Bernier (Beauce, Que.), Treasury Board President Tony Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.), Indus-try Minister James Moore (Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam, B.C.), Labour Minister Kellie Leitch (Simcoe-Grey, Ont.) and In-

Manning conference ‘a staple of our public policy discussion ecosystem’This year’s theme is ‘The Way Forward Together,’ and features public policy discussions on the economy, security, technology, the environment and political organization.

Eight Cabinet ministers are scheduled to speak: Finance Minister Joe Oliver, Transport Minister Lisa Raitt, Defence Minister Jason Kenney, Small Business and Tourism Minis-ter of State Maxime Bernier, Treasury Board President Tony Clement, Industry Minister James Moore, Labour Minister Kellie Leitch and Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel. The Hill Times photographs by Jake Wright

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