Maclean’s Live from the Progress Summit 2015

Just as the Manning Networking Conference allows conservatives a weekend’s worth of thinking and schmoozing in the nation’s capital, the Progress Summit affords the same opportunity to social democrats who want a piece of the action. And just as Preston Manning’s gathering this year was rife with Conservative conservatives who want to win a fall election, Ed Broadbent’s three-day party is packed with New Democrats with the same desire.

The Broadbent Institute’s second-annual Progress Summit, which runs March 26-28 at Ottawa’s Delta City Centre Hotel, offers keynotes and panels and workshops designed to whip up left-wingers into a frenzy of optimism just a few months from the next federal election.

This year’s conference, #prgrs15, lends its stage to its namesake, the NDP’s elder statesman, as well as current leader Thomas Mulcair. Former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow, NDP MP Nathan Cullen, Toronto city councillor Mike Layton, and renowned philosopher Charles Taylor are all on hand. Aboriginal leaders will stand front and centre. The list of speakers includes labour leaders and community organizers, as well as nonpartisan voices from the world of economics and journalism. They even invited a couple of conservatives.

We’re streaming every second of the summit live. Watch here from end to end. The full schedule is below.

Progress Summit 2015