The Templeton Lecture on Democracy is sponsored by the University of Manitoba out of the generosity of Carson Templeton, O.C., LL.D., P. Eng. He was chief engineer of the Greater Winnipeg Dyking Board after the 1950 flood. Thereafter he established a consulting practice, specializing in municipal engineering. In this capacity he attended hundreds of municipal council meetings, and developed a profound respect for democracy at work at the municipal level, a respect which has carried through all of his subsequent endeavours. Templeton died in October 2004. Previous Templeton lecturers were: Peter Russell, John Ralston Saul, Jeffrey Simpson, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Benjamin Barber, Michael Ignatieff, Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin and Rt. Hon. Joe Clark.