While the formal "work" of the summit ended in the afternoon on Saturday, that wasn't the end of the days events. When I returned to the convention centre, the upper ballroom was transformed into a pretty damned cool sight. The place had been redecorated in the vein of a trendy lounge. I was very impressed and later learned in the speeches that a set designer had been hired to give the place its look. I got myself a drink and then settled down at a table with some girls from another CEP local (one of whom swore up and down that she had met me at a training course the year before, even though I haven't been on training outside the company in a very long time) and a few boys from the videographers for the event, 306 Productions (note the clever name!). The food was decent hotel fare and the speeches were excellent as well

We were graced by the presence of His Honour the Honourable Dr. Gordon Barnhart, and he spoke at length about a variety of subjects mostly focused on life-long learning and his passion for governance and citizenship. It was the first time I had to the opportunity to hear him speak for any length of time and was really impressed by him. The last speaker of the evening was Pat Atkinson, the Minister of Advanced Education and Employment, the department that put on the event. She mostly thanked the organisers (who did a great job, btw) but also talked a little bit about why we were all in the room. She had a great line when she said, "we're not here to say that Saskatchewan is perfect." It's clearly not, but it was refreshing to hear someone like that talk with a little candour. I was also surprised to hear her encourage folks to leave the province – no, it's not what you think. She told a story about how she left the province as a young person and that the experience made her realize what she had back at home in Saskatchewan. She encourage us to travel and see the world and that if we left the province to realize that we would be doing so because we could, not because we had to. I'm not sure why her words stuck with me but I think it has to do with the fact that I have lived and worked outside the country and I can relate to what she is saying. You can gain a lot of perspective by stepping outside your box and seeing what's out there, both positive and negative. I really wish this government would have done the same recently, and they will too after they get voted out.

After the speeches, that was it for the formal program. There were bands and music all night long, but I had an early morning ahead of me so I didn't stay very much longer for the show. It could have been fun!

So, what can I tell you regarding my thoughts about the summit overall?

First and foremost, I think the organisation of the conference, while not perfect (could it ever be?), was as close as anyone could ask it to be. Given the timeframes involved from the idea to the concept to the execution, I can't say anything less than I was absolutely impressed with the skill of the entire team involved. All the bases were covered, from the great facilities down to the willingness of those involved to do whatever they could to accommodate us over the weekend. What also perhaps impressed me most was the passion that the organisers had for not only putting on the event, but the passion they had for their vision of giving youth a voice.

What was the goal of the summit? I think the goal of the summit was to bring together a large and representative group of Saskatchewan's young people on a scale not done before for the purposes of having them dialogue and network and to begin a conversation about the future of our province. In that sense, the summit was an unqualified success. I learned a hell of a lot in one short day about what young people are thinking in and about this province. It also dawned on my that most of what they were talking about was quite a bit different from the way the baby boomers in our land see the world. The question is, what happens next?

More and more in my career and my personal life, I've been trying to focus my activities into getting results. No matter what anyone tells you, the true measure of any person's success is what they are able to achieve. Trying and failing more often than not is often a big part of the process, but ultimately if you don't have any tangible results in the end you have to ask yourself whether you had set appropriate goals to begin with and whether you did what was needed to achieve them. What tangible results will come of this summit? The answer is, quite honestly, none. The sessions we participated in were of the warm and fuzzy type, lots of vague questions, statements, and expressions but nothing in and of itself very useful. We didn't get much time to work on anything, either. Does this mean it was a waste of time? I don't believe so. These kinds of preliminary activities are always a necessary process – a necessary beginning to something larger. At first it might not seem that we got anything real done, but what we did do was take that first baby step. The real results will come from the activities that will happen after the conference. There were a lot of political and business leaders in the crowd, and from what I could see most of them followed Calvert's lead when he told his Ministers to shut up and listen during the summit. The next step in this process will be the report on the event at the end of the month.

Was this whole thing worth taxpayer's hard-earned dollars? I am still struggling with the whole idea but the bottom line is that things cost money. Some people might struggle with the fact that the government spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a conference when thousands of people in the province are living below the poverty line, but I've found over the years that it's impossible to think that way. Money can be a very abstract thing; it is simply one of the primary ways we associate value with our time and effort. It costs money for people live, work, and get together for things like the summit. That's just the way it is. Our challenge is to make sure that something comes of it.

I can only hope that something does come of this. Yes, we have to step up to the plate as youth to shape our future, but I don't believe the preaching from the plenary wrap-up that each of the stakeholders must share equal responsibility for continuing the work of the summit. To suggest that each demographic has an equal responsibility for the issues of the day is ludicrous. The fact of the matter is that the leaders of today – I'm talking specifically about the senior leaders of government, business, and labour - the baby boomers, are the shoulders that the future of the work begun at the summit rests on. It is up to them to give us a voice, to listen, and to act, where appropriate, because it is they who hold the true power to make things happen and make them happen quickly, because we do not have time to wait. I'm looking to the government in particular to take on this initiative, either with regard to the issues and recommendations raised in the summit or taking steps to take the work of the summit and turn it into concrete plans for action. If they don't, then the whole thing will have been just a lot of hot air. The value of this conference rests not with what happened, but what the follow-through will be.

We are in a time of unprecedented and I think largely unpredictable change here in Saskatchewan. The next five to twenty years will likely see the biggest changes that our province has seen since the introduction of socialism to the province 70 years ago. The only thing that we know for sure is that things will change and that we must incorporate change into our daily life. This emergency of change at all levels in our society is the most pressing issue facing us as a people today, and I look to our senior leaders to move away from their culture of entitlement and respond accordingly. That is not to say that we as youth won't help. We will soon need you to throw that torch from your hands. The sooner you realize that your hands are failing, the sooner we can get started.