Twitter Canada previews the 2017 Progress Summit

Leading thinkers, policy experts and organizers from across Canada will gather in Ottawa from April 5-7 for the 2017 Progress Summit (#prgrs17), the largest annual progressive politics conference in Canada.

Themes for the 2017 Progress Summit include:

• Movement activists on their fights to change the game
• The future of Canadian social democracy
• Countering the global rise of the right
• Economics for sustainable and inclusive growth
• Lessons from progressive wins at the municipal level
• Big ideas to improve healthcare for all Canadians
• Leadership and movement building
• Lessons from cutting edge campaigns

Look for these and other topics to drive the #prgs17 conversation on Twitter and at the conference, as well as live Periscope broadcasts from the event. This year’s Progress Summit will feature a wide range of speakers from across Canada including Saskatoon mayor Charlie Clark (@charlieclarkyxe), Halifax city councilor Lindell Smith (@LindellSmithHFX), and Toronto-based journalist and social commentator Desmond Cole (@DesmondCole).

Presented by the Broadbent Institute (@broadbent), which was founded by former leader of the federal New Democratic Party Ed Broadbent, #prgrs17 will also be an important touchstone for the NDP (@NDP_HQ) on its journey to select a new leader in October 2017.

To date, four candidates have registered for the leadership race and debates have been held in Ottawa and Montreal:

• Charles Angus (@CharlieAngusNDP)
• Niki Ashton (@nikiashton)
• Guy Caron (@GuyCaronNPD)
• Peter Julian (@MPJulian)

Angus has been the most mentioned #NPDldr hopeful on Twitter in recent weeks. In 2017, his account has been mentioned more times than accounts for the other three registered candidates combined.

In terms of new Twitter followers gained, Ashton is leading in that category. Here are the four hopefuls ranked by number of new followers gained in 2017:

1. Niki Ashton (@nikiashton)
2. Charles Angus (@CharlieAngusNDP)
3. Peter Julian (@MPJulian)
4. Guy Caron (@GuyCaronNPD)

The broader Twitter conversation about the leadership race continues to gain momentum on the platform overall. There were 6x more mentions of the #NPDldr race on Twitter in March 2017 when compared to February 2017.

The top three dates in 2017 that had the largest volume of #NDPldr conversation on Twitter:

1. March 12, 2017: The first #NDPldr debate in Ottawa
2. March 26, 2017: #NDPldr debate in Montreal
3. March 7, 2017: Niki Ashton officially launches her campaigns

Keep tabs on Twitter during #prgrs17 and in the coming months for the latest on the #NPDldr race and the #cdnpoli conversation at large.