One of these things was lifted from the other?

The 150!Canada conference is in Ottawa this week. No not that Canada 150 conference…

What is the 150!Canada conference?

It’s the first big meeting to begin planning the 150th celebration of Canadian Confederation. It’s an opportunity for public servants, business leaders, social innovators, and artists to gather in Ottawa and spend two days thinking about how we will celebrate the next great year in Canadian history. 2017 still seems far away. But the spirit of our Sesquicentennial starts in Spring 2010.

About

150!Canada is a new initiative from the Institute for the Public Administration of Canada to imagine, plan and celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial in 2017.

The Canada 150 conference is a “non-partisan” conference of Canadians organized by Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals:

This website is part of a national conversation about our country’s future.

We’re coming up on a rendezvous with destiny—in 2017, we’ll celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday.

What will we be celebrating that year? What kind of Canada do we want in 2017? And what do we have to do, today and tomorrow, to get there?

We need the next generation of bold ideas, to take our country forward.

So did the Liberals take the idea for their conference from somewhere? When was this idea conceived? A page from the Government of Canada (that’s the “Harper government” to its friends in the Liberal Party) website suggests that this idea was hatched long before Michael Ignatieff decided to unveil anything in the “vision” department for Canada at 150:

Prime Minister will use social media to connect with Canadians

I just found out from my friends in the Prime Minister’s office (and at Google) that the Prime Minister will be using YouTube to livestream his reaction to the Speech from the Throne and will use Google Moderator to take questions from Canadians regarding the Throne Speech and Budget.

Social media has been creeping into many different fields from its rapid uptake in entertainment to cautious integration in politics. Barack Obama used social media extensively during his campaign and has used it during his presidency. Some will remember that President Obama used Google Moderator to hold a first-of-its-kind townhall answering questions submitted via the service.

Canadians can watch the Throne Speech reaction live at Tuesday March 11, 2010 at 11 a.m. ET at http://www.youtube.com/TalkCanada and submit questions via the same address and see the townhall on the 16th at 7pm ET.

Here is the release from the PM’s office:

Canadians, especially younger Canadians, are no longer getting their news from just television, radio and print media. They are turning to new media in increasing numbers. This marks the first time that a Prime Minister’s speech will be livestreamed on YouTube.

Social media is changing the way Canadians interact with politicians. It allows Canadians to have unfiltered and immediate access to information. And it facilitates conversation between citizens and their elected representatives. Livestreaming complements our Government’s current use of social media, which includes Twitter, Facebook and pre-taped YouTube videos. In fact, Prime Minister Harper has an active following – 47,383 followers – on Twitter.

Here is the YouTube video explaining the event:

Regarding the rewording of O Canada, the PMO speaks…

“We offered to hear from Canadians on this issue and they have already spoken loud and clear. They overwhelmingly do not want to open the issue. The Government will not proceed any further to change our national anthem.”

“Nous avons consulté les Canadiens et Canadiennes sur cette question, et ceux-ci se sont exprimés haut et fort : par une immense majorité, ils ne veulent pas ouvrir ce dossier. Le gouvernement n’ira pas plus loin en vue de modifier l’hymne national.”

Dimitri Soudas, official spokesman for the Prime Minister