This is an important ask. We have already had enough of this traditional election. We have been listening to the platforms. We already know the ideologies of the various parties. We have listened to the environmentalists, jeered the libertarians, shivered at the contempt of the conservatives, scoffed at the socialists, and puzzled over the left/right liberals. And all we really want to ask is who is going to take this nation to the world leadership it can so easily earn?
And size is not a measure of leadership. Nor is gross domestic product a measure of anything other than creating financial value. Leadership is ideas. Leadership is shared conviction.
Here are two examples of leadership: First was John A. Macdonald who pulled this nation together by building a railroad. It was no easy task, he coloured outside the lines occasionally to get the job done—but it did get done. He banded his dream of a nation with rails of steel.
The second example of leadership was the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Again, it was no easy task. It was Pierre Trudeau who made it happen. It was an idea that helped develop our nation. It was an idea that freed the individual in a nation that cares about all. And, it still has its detractors.
But Canada has to stop taking baby steps into the future. It has to keep building on the vision the world has of this country. We already have the reputation of being welcoming and decent. We are not part of any other nation’s army. We seek to help keep the peace. We welcome the dispossessed. We want to be a country of opportunity. We want to do our part in humanitarian service for the rest of the world.
Amazingly, all it takes is leadership. It takes a single idea. It takes one person to take the first steps. It needs a leader who can say ‘Yes, we can.’ And then does it.
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Copyright 2019 © Peter Lowry
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