Friday, January 20

Thursday: Forums at U of L and in Picture Butte

By 9 this morning I was at the office, where Tyler was frantically preparing slight alterations and updates for my next speech. Some may not realize it, but because issues change daily with new announcements, one can not go with a "canned speech". Keeping up with events adds to the sense of challenge!

Toward noon we picked up our beloved Senator Joyce Fairburn, who came with us to the University of Lethbridge forum. As is usually the case, this forum had a slightly different format, and the hall was packed to the point where they had to open another section. It is great to see that so many of our young people are interested, and want to be involved in how our country is governed. Most of the questions from the students were directed to Mr. Casson and Melanee Thomas. We were also graced with a visit from Ivanka, of the Provincial Team, who came with her husband all the way from Calgary for this event. Thanks a million for your support!

Senator Joyce insisted on taking Tyler and me to a late lunch to get us away from the pressure. Thanks so much to all of you for being so watchful and caring for me. Then it was back to the office and another rush to get the next speech tweaked for the evening forum in Picture Butte.

Again the Community hall was packed; and as well, a couple of dozen foreign students from the Management Program at the U of L also attended. In this forum we were given up to 10 minutes to make our speeches, and then we were open to questions from the floor. There were fewer questions, although again, I was faced with some of the same ones as in previous forums. I'm told I performed much better. The audience was polite and very attentive.

Today, it was good to hear that the gap between us and the Conservatives is closing, although as I've often said, "I wouldn't like to stake my life on the polls". In a few hours we will be attending our last forum, which will be held at the Senior Citizens' Centre.

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