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There is also the question of coverage. Just two months ago, Finance Minister Bill Morneau told the Economic Club of Canada that he favoured a limited approach that would cover only Canadians who currently lack drug coverage through a private insurance plan. He has since said he’ll wait for expert advice.

Morneau mentioned the pharmacare advisory panel in a speech Saturday, then hinted there are big things to come ahead of the election.

“We have big plans,” he said. “We know there’s more to do. We know the work you’re doing over these days is going to help us to get there.”

Ambition was the theme of the gathering’s showcase event, an on-stage discussion between Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s principal secretary, and David Axelrod, who’d been a senior advisor to former U.S. President Barack Obama.

“I know there are down-times in politics, when the (media) isn’t friendly and the wind is in your face, and you gotta work your way through that,” Axelrod said in front of a packed convention hall. He stressed the need to remember “why we do the work.”

Butts described the party’s current situation as being “an incumbent government trying to do big things well.” He also recalled advice he had received from Axelrod years ago, when he was still working in Ontario politics: a party can win with concrete measures and a positive message.

But what concrete measures will go into the party’s next platform? Will it indeed centre around pharmacare, as seemed so likely in Halifax? Will the party’s grassroots find acceptance of any of their other priorities?

Asked by reporters, Trudeau answered cautiously.

“One of the great things about an open convention like this is the opportunity to draw on ideas from all across the country,” he said. “We look forward very much to seeing what the grassroots have to say about where their priorities are, and we’ll of course reflect on next steps for a broad range of issues they bring up.”

• Email:bplatt@postmedia.com| Twitter:btaplatt