1. Preston Manning was the founder and the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance in 2000 which in turn merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form today's Conservative Party of Canada in 2003.
Preston Manning served as leader of the Official Opposition from 1997 to 2000.
Preston Manning is the son of former Social Credit Premier of Alberta Ernest Preston Manning.
Preston Manning lost the leadership election to Stockwell Day but continued to serve in the federal parliament until his retirement in January 2002.
Preston Manning is seen as the founder of the green conservative movement in Canada.
Preston Manning is the son of Muriel Aileen and Ernest Manning, Social Credit Party Premier of Alberta between 1943 and 1968 and a Canadian Senator from 1970 to 1983.
Preston Manning enrolled in the honours physics program at the University of Alberta in 1960, but switched after three years to economics and graduated in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts in economics.
Preston Manning sought election to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1965 federal election as a candidate of the federal Social Credit Party in Edmonton East, but was defeated.
Preston Manning has described himself as "a great fan and imperfect follower of Jesus of Nazareth" and has studied and lectured extensively on managing the interface between faith and politics.
Preston Manning contributed to the development of a "socio-economic development model" for TRW Systems of Redondo Beach, California, as the firm was endeavouring to shift its focus from the systems management of military projects to the management of "civil systems".
Preston Manning presented the case for the new party, the attendees voted 77 percent in favour of that option, and a resolution was passed to hold the Founding Convention for the new party in Winnipeg in the fall.
Grey in Ottawa as her Policy Advisor and Executive Assistant, while Preston Manning continued to travel the country building the party.
In 1995 when Bloc leader Lucien Bouchard's position as Opposition Leader granted him a meeting with visiting US President Bill Clinton, Preston Manning was given a meeting with Clinton to diffuse Bouchard's separatist leverage.
Preston Manning then reviewed all the previous major attempt at Senate reform and the reasons for their failure, concluding with the case for Reform's Triple E Senate.
At the May 1998 Reform Convention in London, Ontario, Preston Manning therefore proposed an effort to create a United Alternative to the Liberals and a process for exploring the possibility of bringing Reform and the Progressive Conservatives together.
The process for achieving it, under Preston Manning's leadership, was incremental, beginning with the creation of a United Alternative Steering Committee involving representatives of both parties and the convening of an initial United Alternative Conference.
In January 2000, the second United Alternative Conference was held, with Preston Manning keeping a low profile so as not to convey the impression that the exercise was really just a Reform "take over" of the federal Progressive Conservatives.
Preston Manning gave yet another major address in support of "political realignment".
The vote endorsing Preston Manning's continued leadership of the Reform Party carried by 73 percent in favour.
Immediately following the vote, Preston Manning advised the Speaker of the House of Commons that all Reform members of Parliament should now be recognized as members of the Canadian Alliance and that Deborah Grey would serve as leader of the official opposition until a leader of the Canadian Alliance was chosen.
Preston Manning had resigned his position as Leader of the Opposition to combat the charge that it gave him an unfair advantage over other contestants for the Alliance leadership.
The Canadian Alliance leadership contest itself lasted 3 months in which the contenders crisscrossed the country numerous times and grew the membership of the Canadian Alliance to over 200,000 members, when the results of the first ballot were announced on June 24,2000, Stockwell Day had received 44 percent of the vote, with Preston Manning receiving 36 percent and Long 18 percent.
Preston Manning served briefly in the 37th parliament as his party's critic for Science and Technology.
Preston Manning took no formal part in the creation of the CPC, devoting himself to building "the conservative movement" as distinct from its partisan manifestations.
Sigurdson argues that Preston Manning should be regarded instead as a postmodern conservative whose politics are a response to the process of postmodernization that has characterized Canada in recent years.
In 2005, Preston Manning left the House of Commons and founded the Preston Manning Centre for Building Democracy, a not-for-profit "political think tank and advocacy group" that promoted conservative principles.
For twelve years, the Preston Manning Centre organized the annual Preston Manning Networking Conference.
In July 2016, Preston Manning resigned from his executive functions with the Foundation and Centre, although he continues to support and pursue its objectives in his role as Founder.
On January 16,2020 Preston Manning announced that he was retiring from the Centre, to spend more time with his family.
Troy Lanigan, the president of the Preston Manning Centre, said that the Centre and the "high-profile conferences it organizes", were in the process of being renamed and "rebranded".
Preston Manning has served as a Fellow of the Canada West Foundation, the Fraser Institute, the Marketplace Institute of Regent College and as a Distinguished Visitor at the University of Toronto and the University of Calgary.
Preston Manning is the recipient of honorary degrees from the University of Toronto, York University, McMaster Divinity School, Tyndale University, the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, the University of British Columbia, Trinity Western University, and Crandall University.
In 2007, Preston Manning was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada.
In 2007, Preston Manning hosted a Canadian adaptation of the radio series This I Believe on CBC Radio One.
When Preston Manning was Leader of the Opposition, he was featured in a skit on the Canadian TV show, Royal Canadian Air Farce on December 31,1997.
In 2012, Preston Manning was appointed to the Alberta Order of Excellence.
In 2013, Preston Manning was appointed to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.
Preston Manning "continued his contribution to public policy dialogue through his involvement with numerous research and consulting organizations", such as the Fraser Institute, and the Canada West Foundation.
Together with former Ontario Premier Mike Harris, Preston Manning co-authored a six-volume study and publication for the Fraser Institute and Montreal Economic Institute entitled VISION for a Canada Strong and Free.