As you will see, the camera was shooting directly into the sun and so at a few points I had to move to stop it from glaring into the lens.  I did the best I could with it and I hope you enjoy this video, edited as usual, by my savvy tech partner at AM Fresh.

My partner from AMFresh who edited this video I filmed, had to work on Friday afternoon/evening and so there is not his his usual amazing photo gallery of pictures to include with this video post. Regardless it was an amazing day!    Enjoy!

At 5pm, the Liberal Express heads off to Sidney and the Mary Winspear Centre from 5:30pm-7:30pm where Michael Ignatieff will be joined by Dr Renee Hetherington, Liberal candidate for my riding, Saanich- Gulf Islands.  Come catch all the excitement at this free informal outdoor gathering. Meet members of the federal Liberal BC Caucus and legendary Team Canada goalie Ken Dryden,  MP for York-Centre. There will be lively entertainment with Holly Arntzen, Kevin Wright, David Sinclair and Steve Moyer of the Artist Response Team.

Woman at Mile 0 will be there to film both events.  Hope to see you there!

David Anderson introduced him, reminiscing about his earliest meeting with him, back when Michael was involved with the Liberal youth wing of the party during the Trudeau era, which I found enlightening.   It was also interesting to hear Ignatieff speak about his father’s early connections to this country when he 1st immigrated here back in the 1928.  Michael also noted Stephen Harper likes to pretend he hates taxes, while knowing full well they pay for his billion dollar customized G8/G20 photo ops and salary to boot.  It seems he doesn’t like talking about taxes, but is always more than happy to collect them (i.e HST, higher EI & CPP taxes, etc).  Canadians should have a say in government spending as our tax dollars finance it.

After the speech everyone had an opportunity to meet and chat with Michael.    It was here I had a chance to speak with Mr Ignatieff about early childhood development and the provinces dire need for more funding in this area.  He reiterated, as he always has, that it was a top priority for a Federal Liberal government when they regained power from the Conservatives. All 3 Southern Vancouver Island Liberal MP/candidates also attended including Liberal MP, Keith Martin, Esquimalt Juan de Fuca, Renee Hetherington, candidate for Saanich-Gulf Islands and Christopher Causton, mayor of Oak Bay and Liberal candidate for Victoria.

I was also excited to hear all the party buzz about the top resolutions prioritized during the Federal liberal Party of Canada’s policy conference in BC this weekend in Vancouver.  I am particularly delighted about the early childhood development resolution that came in 2nd after a national housing strategy.  It was a firm affirmation for me of why I continue to support this party with both my money and my time. I will be posting AM Fresh video highlighting some of the policy session discussions in the coming days.

Though labeled as a BBQ and we did have burgers, I would definitely place them in the “gourmet” category. Fixings included blue cheese and a variety of homemade sauces (cranberry, horseradish, etc) I had never tried before on burger…yummy!   The appetizers were fantastic and I would love to have the recipe for that celery, cheese and fruit puree appetizer and the dip that went with those crackers.  Thanks so much to David and Sandra Anderson for hosting the event and to all the volunteers whose hard work made it possible!

We now plan to finish up some final work this morning before heading off to Sechelt to see his mother this afternoon.  We have some great video of the policy sessions, but will not be able to get to those pieces together until later this week.   We hope to post video of the 2nd part of the Gerard Kennedy speech and the “We are women and We won’t shut up breakfast” panel very soon.    As circumstances have changed, we will unfortunately miss the Michael Ignatieff speech today, which won’t happen until late morning/early afternoon.

We are joining Michael Ignatieff at the Victory Fund Liberal BBQ in Victoria on Monday night, so we will be seeing him again soon anyways. We plan to post video coverage of his speech soon after.