Honourable senators, this past weekend, the Conservative Party of Canada held their convention in the great city of Vancouver.

Some Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

Senator Plett: While the West Coast experienced its seasonally typical wet weather, sunny ways filled the Vancouver Convention Centre. We had a record number of youth delegates attend the convention. They were energetic, invigorating and active both in the policy and constitutional workshops and in the plenary votes. In total, 3,000 people took part in our convention.

The commitment to openness and transparency was prevalent, as we held debates and discussions on policy and strategy which were completely open to the media. As well, the spirit of cooperation and unity was evident. The convention was filled with thoughtful, intelligent and respectful debate about issues that are traditionally divisive.

Even on the issues where members were divided, after the votes had taken place, members did not storm out in protest but rather immediately sat down at the table and got back to work with a focus on the issues that unite us. All votes were completely free for all delegates, without any intervention from our party's leadership. We had a fantastic address from our interim leader, Rona Ambrose, with a positive outlook for the future of our party.

The media picked up on this, using words like "openness," "transparency," "united," "free" and "democratic" to describe our weekend in Vancouver. This was in stark contrast, of course, to another convention that was held at the same time in Winnipeg.

I want to congratulate my colleagues on a successful, energetic and forward-looking convention.

Colleagues, I would be remiss if I did not mention another meeting some of my colleagues had while we were in Vancouver, a meeting with Chester and Helen. Chester and Helen are two beautiful dolphins that were found with little chance of survival, who were rescued and rehabilitated by the world-class marine biologists at the Vancouver Aquarium.

We also had the opportunity to chat with scientists and researchers who have worked with cetaceans, both in the wild and in the facility, and who were able to highlight all the critical research being done at the aquarium, an aquarium that is visited annually by 1.1 million people, including hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren.

Colleagues, please join me in congratulating the Vancouver Aquarium for all the important work they do every day to the benefit of marine mammals and to educate Canadians.