Thursday, April 30, 2009

Dispatch from a Convention Virgin (be gentle!)

Well, I made it. 5 hours on a plane from Toronto, checked into the hotel, changed, slapped some makeup on, then off to the Convention Centre!

Registration - check
Swag bag - check
Found the Bloggers Room - check
Attended my very first workshop, which was... "Making Politics Meaningful: How To Engage Membership". Got lots of great ideas. Took notes. My riding President will be happy. Note to organizers: next time, more chairs and more water.

And now I'm missing the Closing Plenary! Ak! All this delegate stuff is really putting a crimp in my blogging.

Next step: deciding which party to go to tonight.

BTW, I regret to announce that The Bag did not, in fact, make it to Vancouver. She was only made of cloth, and the constant wear and tear of carrying a mittful of keys, the Costanza Wallet and 1-2 pounds of coin proved too much for the old girl.

Allow me to introduce you to The New Bag. Now 50% larger!

8 comments:

  1. Love it. Shall be watching your blog avidly - in between campaigning for BC-STV that is!

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  2. Hi Jennifer...you made it !!! Excellent. I'll be following you.
    Watch out for that Vancouver weather eh? Grrrrrr :)

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  3. Shame I didn't know you were coming. I work next door to the convention centre and I would have stopped by to meet you during lunch or after work.

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  4. Dispatch from Halton

    What Riding President?

    The Halton Riding President has been replaced.

    The Leader wants new blood in Halton not a stacked board of Directors.
    All of Halton's Baggage has been dumped at the Convention.SHEEPLE and Wonder Girl has been given a Sheep Farm in the far North.
    Change will know come to Halton.

    AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  5. Quitting time
    | Canadian Politics
    I arrived back in Halton tonight after five hours of a rainy drive, trying to cope with the deluge that overtook me this afternoon. After hitting some TV studios in Ottawa, I found Esther had eight radio stations lined up for interviews on the cell while I drove back. In between those I watched as my Berry convulsed on the front seat beside me, its poor little email stomach exploding and about 300 comments for the blog frying its chip.
    The reaction today to my statement about the Conservative PartyĆ¢€™s handling of my ouster, and party politics in general, has been far deeper and broader than I expected. Going into the National Press Theatre this afternoon I was acutely aware that many media people were keen to hear me spill the beans on PMSH, or to announce I had fallen victim to earthy charms.
    Hope that your political career suffers even more than you have made it.
    Garth, you can preach all you want about “party politics”, but there are some things you should know:
    1. A party got you elected. Nobody cares about a loud-mouth independent.
    2. The parties in Canada are very well behaved, compared to their american counterparts.
    3. You are a bad representative for independents. Independents are an important part of Canadian politics, and deserve more credit than they currently have. Please let somebody else represent independents, as you are tarnishing their cause.
    Halton John

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  6. Anon and HJ -

    Are you boys going to be playing here all weekend, or should we get you your own room?

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  7. Will Garth Turner turn on the Liberals in his latest book?

    Garth Turner's return to Halton is ruffling feathers among Halton Liberals. Steve Savage, the president of the Federal Liberal Association in the riding, openly mentioned the concerns many have that Garth Turner can ever be replaced.

    That sort of thing can't go down well with Michael Ignatieff's people.

    Even if they are concerned, they haven't acted on their concerns yet. The Halton Liberals are planning a big bash on May 1, with Garth Turner's tell-all expose of his time in Ottawa the main attraction:

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  8. Anybody Halton Liberal member who had a problem with our Riding President or the other members of the board was perfectly free to attend the Annual General Meeting last winter and nominate and vote for board members who might support a different candidate. That's how it's done. That's how they're doing it in Rob Anders' riding. It's called democracy.

    Comments are now closed to people who want to whine about Garth Turner or other off-topic issues. Garth has his own blog - go bug him.

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