The conference was well organised by Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick on their pretty little campus.

Here are a few photos from the visit.

One of the things I love about our age of internet is being able to work remotely. Whether its from home on a snowy day or like this morning from a nice coffee shop while my car is repaired.

I could not do it too often though as my work is about people and a lot of that requires face to face interaction and email and phone calls do not always allow for creative solutions to emerge. It is however nice not to have to sit in the waiting room at the car dealership, reading the newspaper half-heartedly and hoping they would hurry up so I can get into work and deal with the waiting emails.

This access to remote working does of course come with disadvantages like blurring of the lines between work and home and it is all too easy to jump to attention when the Blackberry blips and flashes its little light at me.

The first really spring like day of the year. The chickens were let out to roam, we walked about without jackets, the geese flew overhead and our woods looked quite magical. It was certainly a “good to be alive” sort of day.

I am a joiner – I do not wait until the perfect political party comes along before I join. I believe in being part of something and trying to change it to be more like the organisation I want it to be. Sometimes that happens but often it doesn’t. It is a lot easier to stand at the sidelines and be a “commentator” rather than a joiner – complain about everything but be part of nothing.

So I joined the NDP and will be voting in the leadership race. I weighed up all the candidates. I read their emails, I read their websites and I watched their videos.

I was struck pretty quickly by Peggy Nash and the more I found out about her the more I liked what I read and heard. I like that she is a fighter. I like that she is a builder and a campaigner. I like the fact that she stands up for the lesbian and gay community without a second thought. I like the fact she has a background in trade unionism. When the vote comes around for the new leader of the NDP I will be voting for Peggy Nash.

Update – 18th March 2012

Please take a moment to watch the video below where Peggy calls for respect for our democracy. This is an excellent example of how politicians should behave. I respect politicians who respect us and our democratic institutions.