I will dance naked in the street if the Harper government gives a penny towards this event. :)
2010/1/15 Marc A. Pelletier marc@wikimania.qc.ca
[resent from correct address]
From: Nicholas Moreau nicholasmoreau@gmail.com
It could work either way, it could show Canada's really, really interested, or that Canada's really, really not cohesive in its bid planning.
Incidentally, whatever you guys decide, you are both welcome to help and participate, and to use WM 2011 as a platform to recruit/help build WM Canada if it is held in Montreal.
Montreal claims to have interest from the federal, provincial, and municipal governments for funding it. If this is indeed true, and the Montreal team has legitimately got preliminary interest, I say that's an immediate sign they should run the show, as opposed to Toronto.
It is true, but it should not be overstated either: I am going to go out on a limb here and admit that I expect that any financial support will be welcome, but small (a few tens of thousands at most). It's not insignificant, but it's not going to make it any less important to get good corporate and nonprofit backing from the private sector.
What *does* help is that I have a small army of professional lobbyists currently working the political scene with success (they're from the Palais des Congres); and I have had confirmed that I'll have a letter of official invitation from both Harper's and Charest's offices within a week or two, and I'm meeting someone from the Ministere de la Culture next week to talk monies.
-- Marc / Coren
-- Marc-André Pelletier Wikimania Montréal marc@wikimania.qc.ca (sans frais) +1 800 210 0923 (portable) +1 514 691 2677
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