[13][14] The Manning Centre supports small government, free market, and individual liberties and promotes "Canada's conservative movement.

[17] He said that the "express purpose" of the MNC is to "organize larger events at which policy-makers, academics, journalists, students, donors, and other groups of individuals can interact.

[1] Prior to the creation of the Manning Centre, there "wasn't a networking opportunity for what Preston always called the 'conservative movement,' as opposed to political parties.

"[25] There is an interlocking of the Conservative Party of Canada and the Manning Centre at the level of the board of directors, staff members, and participation at the annual conferences.

[1] The rebranding will not change the mandate of "supporting conservatism in Canada...by networking best practices and ideas pertaining to limited government, free enterprise, individual responsibility and a more robust civil society.

[16][29] The 2013 Manning Networking Conference (MNC13) key note speakers included Ezra Levant, Ron Paul, and Jason Kenney.

[30] In 2014, CBC News described the two-day annual conference, which was then in its sixth year, as a "pre-spring tradition" where "small- and big-C conservatives" converge in Ottawa to "hobnob with senior federal cabinet ministers, talk policy with provincial premiers and trade tips with some of the country's most successful campaign strategists.

[25] Breakout sessions included speakers such as Jason Kenney, Dimitri Pantazopoulos on "Conservatives and the City",[25] Susan Delacourt on "Shopping for Votes", Paul Wells on "The Longer I'm Prime Minister", Bob Plamandon "The Truth About Trudeau", and Tom Flanagan on "Winning Power".

[25] Key speakers at the 2015 Manning Networking Conference (MNC15), which was held on March 7 and 8, included Christy Clark, Jim Prentice, Darrell Pasloski, Tony Clement and James Moore.

Topics discussed included "Technology and Politics" "Perpetual Fundraising Machine", "income-splitting", "market-based environmentalism, euthanasia,[33]: 39  "Islamic extremism, municipalities and the runaway Supreme Court".

"[24] In his March 2015 article, National Post columnist Andrew Coyne described as "emptiness" and "careerism" displaying "how vapid Canadian conservatism has become.

"[24] Sponsors for the tenth annual MNC held in Ottawa for four days in February, included Enbridge, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), and CN Railways, according to Maclean's.

During the panel discussion entitled "Development and Sustainability", Binnion took credit for outlining the "key elements of the Conservative's energy platform".

[35][Notes 1][36] In the run up to the 2019 Canadian federal election, the Manning Centre provided a "total of $312,450 to a network of related third-party advertising groups" operating on Facebook and Instagram.

[1] In 2018, Manning called for a "co-ordinated response" by governments, companies, and citizens Canadians to the opposition against pipelines, by creating a Corridors Coalition.

The Coalition would create and maintain a transportation corridor for Canadian oil and natural resources, running from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and eventually to the Arctic Ocean.