Please Note: This is a summary of the events and speeches in my own words for educational, information, and entertainment purposes only. It is not the speakers' exact words and should not be taken as such. It also may contain errors due to the nature of the medium. I am not responsible for any of them, use at your own risk and consult the official videos and/or audio record if you want to verify or quote anything.
The conference starts off in the Jazzy Restaurant at Ottawa U with lovely hors d'oeuvres, A few minutes before six o'clock Wes McLeod and Shannon Joseph welcome participants from 7 provinces and 4 states.
The conference is important for it's role in bringing together key players from related disciplines.
They introduce Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and Preston Manning of The Manning Centre
Then they introduce the various people who contributed to the conference and give them a gift of appreciation:
Michele Boulva of the Catholic Organization for Life and Family
Janet-Epp Buckingham of the Laurentian Leadership Centre
Margaret Cottle, Palliative Care in Vancouver
Ugo Dodd, board member of Canadian Physicians for Life
Eric Lowther of the Association for Faith and Service
Derek Miedema, researcher for the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada
Barbara McAdorey, researcher and co-ordinator for the Parliamentary Pro-life Caucus and Canadian Physicians for Life
Dan Scott of Tyndale University College
Sarah Sonne of 4MyCanada
Peter Stockland of the Centre for Cultural Renewal
Rhonda Wiebe of the Ethics Committee of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Also thanks the volunteer help from Ottawa
Alex Schadenberg takes the mike next to give a brief introduction.
He is pleased to be here. The Wilberforce Weekend hoped to draw 100 people and they are happy to have achieved that goal.
People are here from different perspectives. From disability advocacy, medical, pro-life, religious, everyone can discuss things openly wherever they come from. We want to examine issues according to the Wilberforce model, focusing on cultural shift, changing the culture. Whatever our perspective on these issues it will be productive to examine them together. This is what we need to do as a society. We need to be open to moving with this issue. New ideas are good. We can be effective if we get different ways to see and present ideas. We are looking to sow seeds of change.
This is not just an information session, you are here to contribute and you need to feel that you can. I have gained from this and hopefully so will this country.
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