Banff, Sunday, June 8, 2008

This past weekend has given us many opportunities for intense reflection. We pondered ideas that were at times inspiring, at times shocking.

It has been my immense privilege to share this experience with you, to be with you as the speakers shared with us their wonderful ideas, their passion, their luminous and enlightening experience, like compass points on our quest for meaning.

Together, we took it all in, reacted to what was said, each from his or her own viewpoint. Your questions have enhanced the dialogue.

The last two days have been very inspiring but occasionally sobering.

Inspiring because they have given us a fresh glimpse into the ways in which ordinary citizens are rekindling the passion, the drive, and the commitment that are so crucial to changing the world.

Sobering because they have exposed some of the fissures and rupture points in our society around which justice, understanding, healing and reconciliation are still critical.

During yesterday’s plenary session, most seemed to share one observation: change is sweeping across our nation.

Change in the ways in which citizens are working with each other.

Change in the intensity of social engagement.

Change in the ways in which the social bond is being envisaged and articulated.

But in typical Canadian fashion, the transformation is not being proclaimed from the top of a hill.

Nor is it being broadcast by media outlets through a glitzy ad campaign.

Rather, it is taking place quietly as, little by little, communities are mobilizing around the need to bring more effective and sustainable solutions to their daily challenges.

I am so inspired by the enthusiasm I often witness as I travel across the country.

That is the Canada that I am exploring, that I am observing, that I wish for with all of my heart.

A Canada where every day, its citizens are defining the art of living together, united, through their actions.

Let us be clear.

This collectivist spirit is hardly new.

Far from it.

The drive to improve conditions in our communities is deeply rooted in the rich history of solidarity and altruism that has marked our not-so-distant past.

Do you remember the movement to create credit unions?

What about the campaign to create a universal health care system?

Still yet, what about the national movement to enhance the rights of all citizens?

These are foundational moments in our history.

What is unique about today’s transformations, however, is that they are taking place against the backdrop of a globalized world; a world in which egoism, indifference, and the narrow notion of “everyone for himself or for his clan,” are increasingly holding sway.

This egoism, these narrow mentalities must stop.

Such was the insightful, heartfelt cry of an 11‑year-old boy I met in Haiti, who was determined to tell me what had to change in his country.

We all know the consequences of these mentalities.

Increased levels of inequality.

Dilapidating social infrastructures.

Deteriorating ecosystems.

Freedoms being scaled back.

But it is encouraging to see that more and more Canadians are joining hands, once again, to say no to injustice.

No to inequity.

No to poverty.

And yes to a vision of society and a vision of the world that places the common good above the narrow interests of individuals and groups.

This is not to say that all has been resolved. Quite the contrary, as the National Chief Phil Fontaine pointed out yesterday, the battle is far from over.

The legacy of colonization and residential schools still looms large.

Twenty thousand Aboriginal children in foster care.

Forty Aboriginal communities that lack schools.

One hundred Aboriginal communities that lack access to safe drinking water.

Yes dear friends we—one of the wealthiest countries in the world—have a third world in our own backyard.

I still remember a teenage girl in the Northwest Territories who told me that her only wish is to be guaranteed that grade 10 will be offered in her community in the fall.

This is very real.

It would be so easy to ignore her plight.

Easy to turn a blind eye.

Easy to be indifferent.

But this would be to betray our collective responsibility to create a society in which all citizens can flourish, prosper, and coexist peacefully. It would betray our commitment to being a model global citizen.

One thing must be clear, however: this is not an “Aboriginal problem,” as some would like us to believe.

It is a societal challenge that requires that we all work together to find solutions.

But as Chief Fontaine said, we are moving in the right direction.

He, too, senses the wind of change, ushering in an historic opportunity for us to reconcile ourselves with each other and with the most sombre chapters of our past.

Now what are the implications for leadership?

The transformation taking place across the country poses an exciting challenge to us all—a call to action of sorts.

As Sheila Watt Cloutier said:

“We all have the ability as citizens to make changes ourselves.

Behaving in a responsible manner with compassion is the way to go.

We need to be wise and courageous.

We need to re-centre development on humanity.”

Rest assured Sheila: we share your sense of urgency.

For it is calling on us to interrogate and look beyond our traditional approaches to leadership, and to envisage more just and humane ways of relating to each other.

As was discussed yesterday, what is being called “vertical” modes of engagement—which for far too long have characterized our approach to working with communities and even working within our institutions and enterprises—are being shown to be vacuous, outmoded and ineffective in addressing some of our major societal challenges.

In their place, “horizontal” forms of leadership are emerging, empowering and mobilizing ordinary citizens to become powerful agents of change.

During my visit to Saskatchewan, for example, I was struck to see how an entire neighbourhood in Regina had banded together.

Community members were building houses for and with the disenfranchised, providing free meals to all residents, and offering skills training workshops for youth, all this in collaboration with local private sector and municipal actors.

Their efforts are a beautiful testimony to the collective will of an entire community to tackle together some of its challenges.

What does this mean for us?

These developments tell us that in our positions as leaders, we must be bold enough to rethink and deconstruct preconceived ideas about management and governance.

We must be open enough to make an important place at the table for community members when decisions are being made.

We must be more creative—thinking outside of the box—when exploring and formulating solutions to problems.

We must be audacious in putting the human dimension at the forefront of what it means to achieve our mission.

And, most importantly, we must never, never be afraid to dream big, to take a risk.

As I pointed out during the opening ceremony, there are many sceptics who will claim that this is “political correctness” gone wild. No “real” leader should succumb to the lure of starry-eyed idealism.

Yet, once again, I respond: do not be misled.

For I believe, as you do, in the power of communities to bring about change.

I believe, as you do, in the genius of ordinary citizens who, every day, are finding innovative solutions to daunting challenges.

I believe, as you do, in the extraordinary strength and dynamism youth are deploying to turn back the clock on social exclusion, crime, violence and despair in their “hoods,” as some like to call them.

Can I tell you why?

Because I have seen it unfold in front of my own eyes.

One of the initiatives that I have developed to provide extra relevance to the Office is the Governor General’s Urban Arts Forums.

This project seeks to bring people—who normally would never interact with each other—together in order to develop community-driven solutions to the problems plaguing some of our more disenfranchised neighbourhoods and communities in Canada.

During these dynamic forums, hundreds of emerging hip hop artists, breakdancers, painters, sculptors, graffiti artists, filmmakers, and animation artists sit beside heads of corporations, philanthropists, cabinet ministers, and civic leaders.

And the outcome of the encounter is magical.

At the forum that took place at the Graffiti Gallery in Winnipeg last year, for example, two 10- and 11-year-old girls came to the microphone and spoke, in the most poignant terms, about how they feared for their lives.

The prevalence of gang violence, substance abuse, and bullying were such that they felt that they would be compelled to join a gang for protection.

Their courage mobilized the entire neighbourhood to take back their community from the crack houses, the drug dealers and the gang bangers wreaking havoc throughout the neighbourhood.

Provincial cabinet ministers were so touched by what they heard that they pledged to take action right away.

And a year later, the community is reaping the fruit of their labour.

By most counts, crime has gone down by 70%.

Over 15 crack houses have been shut down.

Most importantly, residents now feel safe to walk in their communities.

Now, I didn’t go to Winnipeg with a million-dollar grant.

Nor did I go with a legion of experts, ready to impose neatly formatted solutions to the challenges of the community.

Instead, I went with the only thing I really have:

An opportunity to bring people together.

A capacity to recognize that communities have many of the answers.

And a duty to ensure that decision-makers of all stripes are aware of the realities taking place across our country.

Do not get me wrong.

This is a risky enterprise. I am treading on thin ice.

Some are wondering what I am doing.

Others are saying that I am being an activist.

Still others are perplexed: why is she spending so much time with hip hop artists and community leaders?

But it is impossible for me to fulfill the constitutional prerogatives that are ascribed to my role without being very close to the realities on the ground.

Without listening closely to the aspirations and fears of the citizens of our country.

Without being profoundly touched by what I hear and see.

After all, I am called upon to warn, to inform, and to be consulted by decision-makers on a variety of issues.

I am also responsible for making the institution of the governor general more relevant and meaningful to the needs and realities of all Canadians.

Therefore, I must go where most will not go.

I must pursue efforts that some are unable to do.

Essentially, I am exercising a form of leadership by taking literally what this institution can represent and by bringing support and validation to the “movers and shakers,” the great builders of our wonderful nation.

This is often all they need and want: to be heard, to be recognized, and to be supported.

And so, as you prepare to embark on this exciting adventure that will bring you into some of the very communities that I have visited, I hope that you will learn from your experience.

I hope you will be inspired by the people you will meet.

And I hope that you will be emboldened by the projects and initiatives you discover.

Because I can’t wait to hear how you plan to make Canada an amazing country, where every citizen can give fully of themselves and have a positive impact on their communities.

For is it not your role, as leaders, to nurture the talents of those around you for the benefit of us all?

The answer is up to you.

And so, until we meet again, on June 19^th and 20^th in Ottawa!

I’ll see you there.