I caught up with Liberal MP Rob Oliphant after Question Period today – right before he had to rush off to a committee meeting – and asked him about this weekend’s Liberal party convention in Vancouver.
Q: The convention – looking forward to it?
A: Absolutely – it’s a convention and it’s in Vancouver. What could be better?
Q: What are things you’re looking forward to most?
A: Probably seeing friends, frankly. I mean, policy and leadership is all great, but this is when the family gets together, and I’ve lived all over the country – I’ve lived out west, I’ve lived in the East, I’ve lived in Ontario, I’ve lived in Quebec, so this is where I get to see people that I’ve worked with and that I’ve been friends with for 30 years.
Q: I don’t suppose you can give me any hints for what’s going to be talked about for policy?
A: I’ve looked through the policy resolutions – there’s a whole group of them on all the usual suspects, both international and domestic, social policy, economic policy. I think the economy is going to reign, and people are going to be talking a lot about what our economic policies are. I think the party has some interesting international issues coming up, but I can’t pre-judge. I don’t know what’s going to take prominence. You go through an event like this, and suddenly issues like swine flu are the dominant media issue, so it’s going to get talked about, and I think we can’t predict it. I don’t know what’s going to rise. I suspect the internal party renewal issues like one-member one-vote will get a lot of attention as well.
Q: I’ve heard the gay organ donor ban may be coming up on the floor as well. Have you heard that?
A: No, I haven’t. I would always like it to be discussed – I am constantly appalled at things like blood donor and organ donation bans for men. It’s ridiculous.
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