Preston Manning Quotes

#1. Nothing disturbs me more than superficiality and mere sloganizing on matters of public policy, and the suspicion that what the speaker is saying represents the full extent of his knowledge on the subject.

Preston Manning

#2. As a result of listening to Aberhart, my father decided to leave the farm in 1927 to study at Calgary Prophetic Bible Institute, Aberhart's training school.

Preston Manning

#3. When the initial effort of political and business leaders to influence public opinion on an issue is to threaten rather than to engage and persuade, they further arouse public opposition rather than win support.

Preston Manning

#4. In many respects, my best friends were dogs.

Preston Manning

#5. There are hundreds of Canadian communities that have given more thought to hiring their rink manager than they have to electing their member of Parliament.

Preston Manning

#6. I guess I'd like to get old and die, in that order.

Preston Manning

#7. The role of the federal government should be neutral toward culture just as it is toward religion.

Preston Manning

#8. In fall 1967, I was given leave of absence by the National Public Affairs Research Foundation to move to Redondo Beach, California, to work on a short-term research contract with TRW.

Preston Manning

#9. During his long political career, my father was always active in communicating the Christian gospel from the evangelical perspective, ...

Preston Manning

#10. For many years I have advocated 'redesigning Parliament' in a variety of ways - elect the Senate, do away with the 'confidence convention,' permit freer voting, strengthen the role of back benchers and committees, do away with ineffectual 'take note' debates, restructure question period, and so on.

Preston Manning

#11. My religious training told me that in times of personal uncertainty one should seek God's direction through personal prayer and study of the Christian scriptures.

Preston Manning

#12. Besides my religious commitment, the greatest single factor that has enabled me to pursue my business and political objectives has been the security and freedom of my home.

Preston Manning

#13. There are more effective ways of tackling environmental problems including global warming, proliferation of plastics, urban sprawl, and the loss of biodiversity than by treaties, top-down regulations, and other approaches offered by big governments and their dependents.

Preston Manning

#14. When political and business leaders tell the public - any public - 'We don't trust you to make the right decision' - they prejudice that electorate against the very proposals they want it to accept and undermine public confidence in themselves.

Preston Manning

#15. New Canada must be workable without Quebec, but it must be open and attractive enough to include a New Quebec.

Preston Manning

#16. Do not ghettoize society by putting people into legal categories of gender, race, ethnicity, language, or other such characteristics.

Preston Manning

#17. A revolutionary should neither look or act like one to get ahead in Canada.

Preston Manning

#18. The trouble with "sacrifices as symbolic acts" is that the immediate impact on those for whom the sacrifice is made quickly fades, while the impact on those who actually make the sacrifice can go on and on.

Preston Manning

#19. The first lesson, for all Canadians, is that the closed door, top down approaches to constitution making do not provide the public input or debate necessary to achieve a constitutional consensus that will be supported by the people.

Preston Manning

#20. Canada is the only country founded on the relentless pursuit of the rodent.

Preston Manning

#21. I was dissatisfied with the status quo back in the 80's, particularly how the West was represented in federation. I wanted to try to change it.

Preston Manning

#22. My first official consulting job, therefore, was for a scrap metal dealer (he resented the term "junk dealer") in East Edmonton named Benny Sugarman.

Preston Manning

#23. What used to be considered conservative values ... are increasingly becoming more mainstream values.

Preston Manning

#24. My personal political convictions are rooted in the populist political traditions of western Canada.

Preston Manning

#25. Remember the referendum on the Charlottetown constitutional accord? The more Canada's political and business elites threatened Canadians that the country would disappear into a black hole if the accord weren't passed, the more Canadians opposed it.

Preston Manning

#26. When we classify an issue as a 'shield issue' it is usually because we feel that someone else occupies the high ground on that issue. We feel we can't win on that issue and so we adopt a defensive posture.

Preston Manning

#27. An optimist in Canada is someone who think things could be worse

Preston Manning

#28. What's the difference between a politician and a catfish? One is a wide-mouthed, bottom-feeding, slime sucker - and the other is a fish.

Preston Manning

#29. There is a whole school of Canadian academics, media personalities, and politicians whose definition of a Canadian is a North American who fears or dislikes the United States.

Preston Manning