Preston Manning, PC CC AOE is the Founder of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy which seeks to strengthen the knowledge, skills, principles, and ethical foundations of participants in Canada’s political processes.

Born in 1942, Preston Manning is the second son of long time Alberta Premier Ernest C. Manning who was also a prominent Christian layman and broadcaster. Growing up in a household which was both political and evangelical, he became intimately familiar with the political and religious experience of western Canada.

Mr. Manning served as a member of Parliament from 1993 to 2001. He founded two political parties – the Reform Party of Canada and the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance – both of which became the Official Opposition in the Canadian Parliament, and laid the foundation for the new Conservative Party of Canada. Mr. Manning served as Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2000 and was also his party’s science and technology critic. In 2007, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada and in 2013 was appointed to the Privy Council.

Mr. Manning graduated from the University of Alberta with a BA in Economics and provided consulting services to the energy industry for twenty years before entering the political arena. He has received honorary degrees from eight Canadian universities and is the author of three books, The New Canada, Think Big, and most recently, Faith, Leadership, and Public Life.

Mr. Manning and his wife Sandra divide their time between Calgary and Vancouver. They have five grown children and eleven grandchildren.