I love CPAC like other people love the Weather Channel. To me, the discussions that happen behind the scenes – at the committee level and at other venues – is where opinions are formed and policy is generated.
Here are a couple of my recent CPAC “moments”.
The first is a media scrum at the Supreme Court – scroll ahead to 12:55. This was a piece on the landmark challenge to the law banning physician-assisted suicide.
The second is my appearance at the pre-budget consultations by the Parliamentary Committee on Finance (scroll ahead to 99:55 to hear my presentation and then you can see me field questions afterwards).
Do we actually influence policy makers? I like to hope so. Even if it is subtle. One must believe that they listen when we speak honestly and with authenticity on things that matter to Canadians.
Dr. Chris Simpson 