This past weekend the Ontario Liberal Party hosted the Collingwood Conference at the Village in Blue Mountain.
The aim of the conference was to imagine the future of Ontario. It was a chance for Liberals across the province to meet and share ideas.
In his opening speech, Premier Dalton McGuinty referenced the crow’s nest of a ship. He described the crow’s nest as a place to look toward the future and the horizon without being caught up in the hustle of the deck.
The deck McGuinty was referring to could be found outside the conference centre where many protestors upset about the recent drug reforms, health effects of wind turbines and wage freezes had gathered.
The Collingwood Conference featured an exceptional roster of keynote speakers including Malcolm Gladwell and Jeff Rubin, among others. The topics discussed ranged from local to global issues facing our planet and the province.
Two fundamental themes expressed through the speakers and expert panelists were: Building the New Ontario Economy and Strengthening Public Services.
In addition to listening to the speakers, delegates were able to participate in seminars each morning and afternoon followed by a workshop.
Seminar topics varied from security, democracy, health and the economy. After listening to each expert panelist the seminars were opened up to the audience for questions and debate. In the workshops following the seminar delegates had the opportunity to share their notes and solutions on each topic discussed.
The Collingwood Conference offered local party faithful a chance to look at Ontario’s future and work together to find ways build a stronger province.
