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My favorite moment at a convention occured when Gerard Kennedy gave his speech rallying the troups to support our leader Stéphane Dion. We were all sad that our hard work hadn't left us on top but we were so proud of Gerard.
Nous avons tous marche avec Gerard à M. Dion. C'était un temp d'unité et inspiration pour moi.
I will never forget the hugs, the smiles and the friends I made during that walk.
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"I have two favourite convention moments. The first was Paul Martin's speech. It summed up what I thought was one of the most progressive, forward thinking governments, but was cut. Mr. Martin embarked on a very promising path - the Kelowna and Kyoto accords, a New Deal for cities, renewed federalism, same-sex marriage, a greater emphasis on Western Canada - and reminded us all that even though he was stepping down the responsibility rested on everyone else in the room to fulfill his governments mandate."The second, was Jean Chretien's speech. 'As you sit at home Mr. Harper, do not adjust your TV set. What you are seeing is real,' and 'Stephen. May I call you Steve, like your friend George Bush'."
- Zac Spicer
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"What I remember most from Convention are the people. After months of organization by phone, e-mail, and internet, Convention finally gave everyone the chance to work face-to-face. For me, this meant getting to meet wonderful people like Delia Greco (pictured here).The moment that stands out most to me was the third ballot. Seeing Rae drop, and knowing that we stood a great chance of winning on the next
ballot, was a mix of elation and sadness. My great friend, Richard Zussman, had poured his heart into the Rae campaign and was now in the
unenviable position of having to deal with great disappointment and rally his troops at the same time. Nonetheless, he picked himself up, got organized, and worked hard right up to the last vote.
Once the forth ballot came in, we knew that a page had truly been turned in the history of the Liberal Party. We've had our bumps over the last year, but nothing great ever comes easy."
- Ian Anderson
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I spent a good 8 months working on Michael Ignatieff's campaign. From going to his events in the summer, to doing blog monitoring in the fall and organizing in Northern Ontario. I spent an entire week in Montreal getting there before the convention even started. I
think I worked harder that week than I have in anything I ever have. I really believed in Michael and did anything they asked, whether that meant unloading trucks, handing out t-shirts, talking to other delegates or taking part in rallies. It was kind of a frustrating week and I felt all my hard work was going unappreciated.
I still stuck it out because I really wanted Michael to win, even though I felt unnoticed. At the party after Michael lost, I was really disappointed. I went up to him to tell him I was proud to work for him. He told me that he wasn't good with names, but he recognized my face and that he knew I had been with him for a long time and that I worked really hard. I don't know if he really meant it, but after a long week of feeling unappreciated, the fact that Michael would make that kind of gesture with everything I'm sure he was feeling after losing the leadership race really made my convention.
- Justin Tetreault
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"My favourite convention moment was gathering youth delegates from all camps to put on MHF shirts and cheer for her as she finished casting her first ballot. I wasn't a Findlay delegate, but nobody deserved a packed post-vote scrum more than she. As she lead us down one escalator, my candidate was on the one beside me heading up. Without flinching, he smiled at me, reached out for my hand, and then gave me a pat on the back as he continued up one escalator and I continued down the other.
"Je ne savais pas qui allait gagner à la fin. J' était fatigués et avec beaucoup de stress. Cette semaine a été difficile et parfois je voulais arrêter tout et sortie le Palais. Mais à ce moment-là, j'ai rappelé une leçon très importante à mes parents m'ont appris...
"Winning isn't everything -it's being a team player that counts."
- Denise Brunsdon
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"What is it with political conventions and sushi? I love Japanese food as much as the next guy, but seven straight meals of rice, rolls, seaweed, spicy tuna and octopus? The sake wasn't bad, though...better than Red Bull! It got me through many a long night huddled over my laptop, tracking delegates.Un gros merci au gentil bonhomme qui a inventé le Tide-to-Go. La sauce soja...mon ennemi mortel!"
- John Lennard
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