2009 Presenter Full Presenter List

Preston Manning

Former Opposition Leader

Preston Manning served as a Member of Parliament in Canada for nine years, four of which was spent as the Leader of the Opposition Party. During his period in Parliament, he founded the Reform Party of Canada and the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance - both of which became the official Opposition in the Canadian Parliament.

Since his retirement from politics in 2002, Manning has released a book entitled Think Big: My Adventures in Life and Democracy, describing his use of the tools and institutions of democracy to change Canada’s national agenda.

He is currently teaching at the Fraser Institute, and is President and CEO of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, a national not-for-profit organization supporting research, educational, and communications initiatives designed to achieve a more democratic society in Canada guided by conservative principles.

In 2007, the former Conservative Party leader was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.