I was asked by an Ontario National Council candidate to represent him at the draw for speaking order and table assignments which was at 11 am this morning. Ironically, the room it was to be held in was “behind” the security barriers in place (little people in yellow shirts with no guns were considered security hehe) and registration for your badge was not taking place until noon. So I sauntered past three yellow shirted “barriers” until finally one asked me for ID.
I promptly got out my driver’s license and my Conservative Party membership card to show him and he told me that anyone could have printed the membership card off and he would need to see further proof. At this point I pulled out my completely useless “Conservative Party Sustaining Donor Card” (**see note at end as to why I have this card with me if it is completely useless), and he said, that’s fine go ahead.
I then managed to squeeze into the long hallway with meeting rooms everywhere and made my way to the empty room where the lottery was to be held. At that point I got jumped by another yellow shirted “barrier” who dragged me out the other end of the hallway which, luckily, was where registration was. As I was there well before the registration started yet had a reason, they were nice enough to let me register. I ran into Mike Donison who introduced himself. He seems like a very pleasant man.
Following registration, I returned to my hotel room to drop off my kit and went back for the lottery. My friend running for National Council got what I think is the a pretty good table location and the second best speaking spot for Ontario candidates.
Following that I spent some time in the Delta lobby talking to Minister O’Connor, some of my fellow delegates, and I was lucky enough to get some time to talk to and congratulate Minister Tony Clement (Parry Sound – Muskoka) on his victory and I got to meet Winnipeg hometown boy Rod Bruinooge (Winnipeg South) as well as Chris Warkentin (Peace River). While waiting around security showed up and Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife came in, shook a few hands and headed up to their suite.
I’ll be heading out to lunch soon and tracking down some bloggers. Dr. Roy has left me a message so we will likely hook up for a beer at somepoint today.
** Note on sustaining donor card. I just got it in the mail. It is a credit card quality piece of plastic with my name imprinted on it. The card means absolutely nothing to anyone other than to indicate that for 2008, I gave the party some cash. I get one of these beautiful cards annually and usually I promptly toss them into the circular filing cabinet.
Ironically, my more valuable membership card that I have had for several years now is on a flimsy piece of plasticized paper. My information is printed on this card with black inkjet or laserjet and is fading quickly yet I am not slated to get a new card for 2 or more years. Then again, a membership is $10 and I donate far more than that annually so perhaps from a cost perspective things line up a bit better. Still, it would be nice to have a proper membership card in my wallet.