Walking into China - Winter 1981-2

Walking
I looked across the long military style bridge that stood before me. On the other side was Communist China and adventure. I had stated when I was five years old that one day I would learn to speak Chinese and go to China. Here I was twenty years later on the cusp of realizing one more Dream.

I looked across the hundred or so meters of metal bridge with wood planking for a road way. It was a bridge where no vehicles drove, with barbed-wire covered barricades at both ends. On either side in seemingly endless rows I could see soldiers of The People's Liberation Army standing at the ready facing inwards to scrutinize all who walked the gauntlet.

I had just talked my way into China, now I had to face the music – military music. I took a breath, whispered a quiet prayer, and stepped forward into history.

These were the waning days of the hardline Maoist regime and China was in flux, but everyone knew that what I was doing could mean imprisonment and even death. I smiled, walked calmly and even whistled a bit as I walked slowly towards my destination and destiny.

I knew very well how the poor people of China had languished under Mao's authoritarian government, while in some way they had also been liberated from a dreadful past.  I had come to bring hope to these people.  I had a Plan and I was determined to execute it and initiate change in the ancient Middle Kingdom. 

Thinking
I had a model from Chinese Buddhism in mind as I prepared to share democratic ideas as an alternative to tyranny.  China had become over 80% Buddhist within thirty years of being introduced according to census data from their history. Social conditions then were almost identical to those of Mao's China when I arrived.

Mao's China was a threat to the world at that time. It was like North Korea today – with a 'supreme leader', paranoid, heavily armed, with a huge nuclear arsenal and a belligerent attitude towards all outsiders and non-conformists.

Something had to be done to change the direction of that nation and the hands of governments were tied in the dance of diplomacy.  I was a Chinese Scholar, an expert in their Classical period, ideas, history, language, art and so on, with a degree from the University of Toronto and several months of living in Taiwan. As a democratic citizen I took responsibility and acted when others could not.

Talking
My Mandarin was pretty good by then, in spite of my limited talent for language learning. I marched slowly, looking side to side into the eyes, minds and hearts of these young soldiers, all in green uniforms with automatic weapons across their chests as one long unbroken line of defense and hostility and danger.

I smiled and walked and imagined a new China that could emerge in twenty years. The risk seemed worthwhile. If China did not change then the world would be destroyed. 

No one could get into China in order to influence the direction events would take now that Mao was dead, even though his wife was on trial for treason on television. I knew the Chinese would come to Canada one day and I was hoping they would arrive in business shoes rather than army boots so I told them about free market capitalism.

Hoping
Now halfway across the bridge I saw a light dawning in my heart and over the ancient Sleeping Dragon - China. I calmly and compassionately looked into their eyes and tried to communicate that I was a friend and that I had come to bring something wonderful – hope.  My personal encounter with the great Marcel Marceau, inventor of modern mime helped me to communicate non-verbally.

I walked towards the last possible point of destruction – Customs and Immigration. If I could get through there without them searching my bag I would be fine. But they could search me, arrest me, imprison me and even execute me for simply talking about democracy.

I was the last passenger from the train I rode from Hong Kong to the frontier. The Customs officials all looked at me as I walked in and surprised them. They had likely already heard about me coming from the officials on the other side of the bridge who had admitted me after a lengthy political meeting in their open workspace.

Thirty of them had gathered to discuss how they should deal with me. I had shown up out of the blue and told them I wanted into China and my passport had already been stamped by their office in Hong Kong.

This was unheard of and unprecedented!  I asked politely and with a compelling and intimidating political argument in quite good Mandarin to be admitted.  They would not disagree with Mao - at least not yet.

This caused quite a stir among them and they were forced to accept my interpretation of Maoist doctrine and let me in.  I knew more about current ideological trends in China than some members of the Politburo and the Communist Central Committee. They had never met anyone like me before.

Flirting
The woman in the green uniform scowled a bit as I walked up and placed my bag on her counter and smiled at her. Where are you going? To Hang Zhou? Why? To visit my friend and fellow Chinese scholar from Canada. How long would I be in China? About there months. She began to smile a bit.

Let me see your passport. What's this stamp from Taiwan? I told her and her associates what I had told those Border security officers at the train station on the other side of the bridge. They also bought my argument and we had a few stifled laughs over my strange official designation.

I am a student at a Chinese university. Which one? Tai-Da. Oh, in Peking? No, in Taipei. Shock!  Taiwan and Mainland China had been enemies since 1949.


Arguing
That's not in China! she said as mouths dropped open all around in disbelief at my audacity.  Quiet hands slipped towards holstered guns and machine-gun triggers. "That's not what Chairman Mao said about it. He says that Taiwan is part of China - a province - and that there is only One China." I argued

Therefore I should be allowed to travel freely as other scholars in Chinese universities do and I should also receive the student discount for travel and accommodation. They were flabbergasted, but they signaled me forward shaking their heads in disbelief. I was jubilant within. This was me using Mao's own doctrine of One China. "One China" principle (一個中國原則/一个中国原则).


I counted on the reputation of all Chinese bureaucrats of the day coming into play. They were reputed to be too lazy to pick up a piece of paper let alone do any kind of work. She waved me through with a sweet smile and fluttering eyes.  

Traveling
I jumped on the train to Guang Zhou City where I stayed overnight before the eighteen hour train journey to the ancient capital city of Hang Zhou near Shanghai. The stream driven train made it's lumbering way across the great central rice plain and onward towards the coast. This was all railway rolling stock from Canada and I ate a lot of Canadian wheat products as I traveled through China.

I planned to tell the staff and students in China's most respected art college  about democracy, free-market capitalism, human rights and the open society. I asked them to carry these great ideas to the ends of their nation to share peace and hope with all. I had found hope in these things and I knew others could too.

This seemed like the best possible place to launch a new set of revolutionary ideas. And these were the best possible people to do it. 

Leaving
The Chinese revere their classical artists above all other citizens in all other professions or pursuits. This is a deeply rooted value that is in all Chinese and is in their culture, their customs, their value system and more.

This is an ancient value rooted in their collective DNA. This was protracted counterrevolution. These artists have been instrumental in the renewal of China and it's modernization.

See Mao's On Protracted War (simplified Chinese: 论持久战; traditional Chinese: 論持 久戰).

I threw my heavy bag over my shoulder, turned and walked away with relief.  Within a few weeks I would deliver my cache of ideas, travel in China's heartland, visit Shanghai, be interrogated by the Chinese Secret Police and then flee on a night train to avoid another discussion about my actions in Hang Zhou.

Getting into China was not easy. Getting out almost became impossible. But so much seemed at stake and worth the risk.

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Peace in El Salvador - The Canadian Connection

The Circumstances of Life

Circumstances of life landed me in a situation where I could provide leadership that resulted in the end of the civil war in El Salvador. This was not something I thought of. It was something that happened to me in large part because I am Canadian.  That permitted trust among those who had been killing each other for so long.

Early in my career working in the church my wife Tamara and I adopted a child in El Salvador through a Christian organization. We had Hector Blanco Iglesias in our financial care for several years and got little notes from him and an occasional picture of his smiling face.  I always wanted to do more for the little fellow.

When I was a student at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey I had made a very good and lasting friend named Joseph 'Joe' Castleberry, Princeton University chaplain and youth minister. Joe is an exceptional person and we became fast friends. We were drawn together and stayed in touch.  This was a time when liberation theology was popular in churches and lecture halls.

After a year I returned to Canada while he finished his degree and then went to Columbia University NYC to complete a doctorate in education. He then went quickly to El Salvador to follow his dream of ministry in Latin America and opened a church in a small premises downtown in the capitol San Salvador. 

His Spanish language abilities are extraordinary and he's interesting so the church rapidly grew. Joe had even come to Canada to be in our wedding party and grew to love our country and people.  He's gifted in many languages.

He moved to San Salvador with his wife Kathy and they had had two little girls in the process. El Salvador had been embroiled in a bloody civil war for fourteen years and the nation was divided along political lines. The American backed government was waging war against the Communist rebels in the hill country. 

America's biggest bombing mission between WW2 and “shock and awe” in Baghdad was in El Salvador during that war. There were still mortar rounds falling on the city while I was there and everyone was on high alert.

The military had rolled onto the campus of the National University of San Salvador and had blown it to pieces, shooting students and staff in their classrooms and leaving the place pockmarked by shelling as a monument to tyranny and injustice. I saw the remnants of all this with my own eyes. 

Workaday world

During this period I had worked at a church in Hinton, Alberta and then moved to another in Napanee, Ontario.I was there sitting in my kitchen relaxing on a Sunday afternoon when the phone rang. 

It was Joe telling me that he had a problem, with a capital P. What's up? He said, “I opened a small church in San Salvador across the street from the National University. After a while some members of the Communist Party started attending and many of them have been converted and have relinquished violence.” That's great I said, so what's the problem...Problem?

“Well,” he continued, “recently some members of the government party have begun attending our church too, including the brother of the military dictator. Now every Sunday morning I find myself at the front of the church fixing to preach and all I see is these two violent factions sitting on either side of the sanctuary glaring at one another. 

The place is tense and I need a way to release that pressure. It's unnerving and I don't know what to do about it. Any suggestions?” I had studied administration which involves problem solving so he thought I might have learned about this kind of situation in school.  I had not.

The idea that moved things

Why yes! I have suggestion. It looks like you have an opportunity. With both parties there you could bring them together to talk and help them negotiate a peace treaty that would put an end to this bloody war. “You really think so?” Yes I do. They trust you don't they?

Joe bought the idea and began moving his friends swiftly towards a new life of peace and reconciliation. So he cautiously set about bringing up this plan with those involved. They also saw the opportunity to do what was right – to nurture peace. Salvador means Saviour.

This process went on for a couple of months during which time we talked it through on the phone while he acted it out on the ground.  I proposed that they build their future peace upon the Canadian model. 

Then Joe called again to tell me they had achieved an agreement and that a date had been set for the signing of a cease fire. I was thrilled when he invited me to come to El Salvador to be a part of this historic event.

An unusual study leave - success with less

I had some study leave available from my job as a minister and decided I would do a study of Latin America. :) The study leave came with a grant and I added $800 to the budget. 

So stopping the civil war in El Salvador cost me less than $2000. It's noteworthy that those who were sponsoring this war of representation had spent more than a billion dollars over fourteen years. That small price is what I call good economics.

San Miguel - "Welcome to hell!" said our guide.

While there we also traveled across the country through the rebel held mountains in order to visit Hector Blanco Iglesias in San Miguel. This city was the place where the Colombian drug cartel laundered their money in those days and it was a very dangerous place, filled with criminal gangs and gangsters. The notorious American street gang MS13 started there shortly after the war ended.

Little Hector attended a Christian school where the startled principal told me they were constantly being attacked by thugs. She was surprised to see me as I was the first sponsor who had ever come to see a child. I brought Hector a soccer ball from Canada and took him out to buy soccer shoes and dinner in a restaurant. The little boy with the hair lip was ecstatic and empowered.

We traveled to San Miguel with one of Joe's church members, who was from that city and was also the economic adviser for the Communist Party of El Salvador. We had to make the return trip in one day as there were banditos and rebels everywhere with little civil law or civility in many places. 

The infrastructure - bridges, power lines, roads and so on was blown to pieces - literally. The people lived in poverty, longing for justice and peace. There was tension in the air as the last week of war passed.

Rebels in the Mountains

We stopped at a mountain village on the return trip. We had been invited for dinner at the home of a Christian dentist. They asked me to speak to locals who were the poorest people of El Salvador in the region of La Palma. There were few lights in the dark meeting tent but thousands appeared out of the shadows to meet 'the Canadian'.

This was the rebel mountain stronghold where they famous La Palma art was produced to finance their side of the war. The government dictatorship was generously financed by the US government. Those people had nothing! Their revolution was financed by indigenous art.

They had no food, no work, no public security and no one to protect them from the troubles of life. They had no doctor, no teacher, no hope and no help. We prayed for all of their needs and for their nation. 

Tottering on the Brink of Peace

As it tottered on the brink of peace I comforted them with the news that Canadian peace had come to El Salvador. The trip back to San Salvador along bandit infested roads that night was uneventful.

I stayed in El Salvador one week which seemed to be months long because we did and achieved so much. During that time we visited the bombed out university as well as the Catholic University where some priests, their housekeeper and her daughter had been murdered. We later visited a coffee finca [farm], some volcanoes, some Inca ruins and had dinner in a posh restaurant overlooking the capitol.

We had lunch with the dictator at a Pizza Hut [or his brother – I was never sure which] early in the week. We had dinner with the man who would become the first democratically elected president of El Salvador . He came to Joe's home where I barbecued chicken for the meal. He arrived with a heavily armed group of bodyguards and left with a heart full of hope for his people.

Most important of all, as I flew out of that city on Saturday, those two men met to sign the ceasefire agreement which was later ratified in a place called Chapultepec, Mexico. This proved to be a very important model for other peace agreements.

With soaring hearts

So as I winged my way overhead they met at a table below to sign the papers. I went back to Canada via Belize and Miami feeling a sense of joy and gratitude to be included in this important historic action. Also other countries in Latin America soon followed this lead and ended their wars. This ushered in democracy, liberty and hope for countless millions.

That was a fun, fulfilling, useful and instructive week of high adventure. It was a week when being a Canadian brought abundant hope to poor people in a distant land who have since helped many others do the same. Canada is the vehicle that helped to deliver peace to El Salvador.

This experience reinforced for me that all things are possible to those who believe. I believe in Canada. I know we can do much more still. I have seen the evidence.

Dr. Castleberry later impacted Ecuador in a similar way. Now he is president of university in Washington State, a sought after speaker, a published writer and scholar and leader in America society. He has three daughters and is married to Kathleen.

Salvador - live link - This movie by Oliver Stone helps us see the challenges faced by El Salvador at that time.

Attacks on The Canadian Senate - What do they mean?

Prime Minister Harper wants to tamper with The Canadian Senate - one of the strong bases upon which Confederation was built. He is trying to dismantle our parliamentary democracy and changing of the Senate will have seriously negative consequences in my opinion. But who would want to question the Prime Minister's motives?

As you know our system of government - parliamentary democracy - has three parts - Legislative, Administrative and Judicial.

If judges and lawyers and police officers behave badly we do not contemplate throwing out the judicial and enforcement components of our democratic system of self-government - nor do we target parts of the system like the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court for elimination or destruction or do away with lawyers, prosecutors and due process.

Same with The House of Commons - many MPs and even some PMs have proven less worthy than others for these august offices and duties. But we still believe in legislative process and the powers of parliament and we do not discuss eliminating the Privy Council or parliamentary committees and officers - OR the Prime Minister.

The Senate has a place in our system that seems to mystify many Canadians - and this mystery is used by him and others as a lever to discredit The Senate.

But to me as a citizen and careful watcher of Senate Committees and in my many interactions with Senators over the years The Senate has been a happy functional surprise in the midst of what has often been chaos in the Lower House and The Prime Minister's Office [PMO].

Senators have stood up for the helpless and the vulnerable and for accountable government. And in keeping with their constitutionally defined job descriptions they have represented their regions to provide balance across all parts of a Canada that has always had uneven population distribution.

Thus less populated regions still have a meaningful voice in this Upper House. This was one of the conditions for Confederation – fair representation across unequal constituencies is very important to sparsely populated places like Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. 

So damaging the historic functionality of The Senate is really an assault upon Canada's Regions, provinces and more vulnerable population groups, all contrary to the intent and spirit of Confederation.  And by the way I have seen evidence that even some new Conservative Senators take their duties to heart and will not be manipulated.

Removing the Senate will not produce the jobs, wealth, investment, increase in the financial tax base or any other useful steps in addressing what many see as a macro-crisis in its early stages.

It will not help the environment nor the economy. But it WILL create another constitutional crisis and I'm sure that would please the guy who is striving to dismantle Canada and strip you of your Rights and collective inheritance. :) That's right – Stephen Harper!

With all due respect it does look like a distraction to me and has been part of trustworthy old Steve Harper's plans and rhetoric since he entered politics. What better reason could we want to make it our priority too!??

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A Nation of Leaders

A Gifted Population

Canadians are almost without exception leaders in their own spheres of activity and communities. Providing leadership to a vast army of leaders is an interesting challenge that requires respect and tact.

Who can provide leadership that can pass the scrutiny of Steve Paikin, Andrew Coyne, Michael Coren, David Mainse, Christine Williams, Sid Ryan, Elizabeth May, John Gormley, Andrea Horwath, Evan Solomon, Gilles Duceppe, Justin Trudeau, and the diverse network of humanity and opinion that has grown up in this land of freedom? 

We have no shortage of genius and leadership in this country – which is a great blessing ripe with potential in a world steeped in chaos. This is no small challenge.

Abundance of Leaders

Leadership also runs deep under these top level and more visible personalities. They represent communities which are in turn comprised of leaders. Every teacher in every classroom in every school and the children they nurture, every manager and foreman and high fashion model and designer and bosses on the shop floor, fishing boat, mining project, construction or power project.

Bankers, businesspeople, bullies and blowhards. First Nations chiefs, mayors, fire and police chiefs and military commanders - they are all Canadian leaders in their own right as are those whom they lead...and they each and collectively in turn need leadership. Life is complex and difficult for all people.

The Challenge

So this is the challenge – to provide leadership that speaks comfort, hope and meaning with clarity to the entire community – in at least two official languages. Yet there are other factors at play aside from our diversity and our inclusiveness. We hold different beliefs – religious, scientific, political, social, cultural, and so on.

Moreover we live in far-flung communities where equality is rare and justice is in need of support – from Attawapiskat to Rosedale and from Smithers to Westmount and Cornerbrook and Halifax there is suffering and sorrow and human need for assurance that things can be made right, made better, safer, more profitable in every way. In short people need hope.

Scrutiny and Integrity

Any proposal must pass the heartless scrutiny of Rick Mercer, Guy A. Lapage and Ron James, all thirteen premiers and cabinets, a vast community of diverse artists in all fields and creative people in all places and occupations AND the Media. This number must also include an unelected Senate, an appointed judiciary and a battery of lawyers too large and smart to comprehend.

There is a world class community of scholars and scientists and engineers and professionals in all vocations – in field, forest, factory, office, classroom and store front. Even our waiters, cab drivers, labourers, unemployed and stay at home parents are brilliant, educated and caring.

Neither can any plan offend our diverse faith communities and those who claim no such beliefs - all at the same time. It must meet the standards of the Constitution, Charter, Law, Supreme Court, business communities, social communities, activist communities, organized labour and rocking chair politicians of every description and stripe. 

Then there is the international community and an intricate network of treaties, agreements and detente and a list of vested interests and powerful dynamics. First Nations and ALL nations will look for their share in the plan. This is one TALL order. Lol

Perspective and Reality Check

So let me quote something here that I read this week somewhere, “The dream never matches up to the reality that follows when we reach for it.” In other words, “Don't get your hopes up!” 

But my hopes are already up because I see the extraordinary people with whom I share this country and this planet and the plans THEY have for a meaningful and hopeful future. This makes me hopeful and optimistic about the future I dream. Their dreams – your dreams – are my dreams – shared dreams.

Sadly this crude paraphrase accurately communicates a pessimistic view of a common phenomenon – dreams – waking and sleeping, hoping and fearing. And many dreams do fail and falter and prove futile or false. 

Yet I often find the opposite to be true – the result by far outstrips the dreams and plans I carried into a situation – by unimaginably large magnitudes. I often stand amazed. Going to university gave me that experience.

Canadian Wealth

It is our rich Canadian culture that enriches us and the world beyond our borders through many programs, relationship and opportunities in business, education, friendship, art, trade, science, diplomacy and in every way. 

This Canadian Culture has evolved in the warmth of Canadian hospitality like that which helped America air passengers on 911 in Gander or the assistance sent to Haiti after their earthquake and a thousand other points of sustainable light.

Canada is a unique and amazing place that is full of leaders in every area and in every occupation and position in society - from school children to Members of the Privy Council to global artists and NGOs. We have a collective opportunity and responsibility to reach out to the world before the world closes in on us. This action must cut mustard with the intelligence community, the law enforcement community, the armed forces community, and citizens of all kinds, origins and descriptions.

This is the kind of democratic leadership that I'm proposing in the Plan of Hope. It has a democratic spirit and employs democratic values, practices and methods within the traditions of democracy in Canada and inside the institutions and processes we have built and nurtured with which to govern ourselves together democratically.

Tools for the Job - The Long View

We do NOT have to reinvent the wheel of Liberty. It's in our documents – Constitution, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, society and a history of case Law stretching back more than a thousand years to a time of kings and Magna Carta.

This plan takes the diligence and creativity, the sense of justice with compassion of many great Canadians and imports this work for all to see, help with and benefit from. By supporting others I propagate democracy – your ideas and dreams and aspirations matter to me and to the national community. The Plan of Hope is evidence that I recognize that and that I listened and took notes.

I believe that this diverse community of leaders need leadership that empowers them and enables them to do the impossible in an age when nothing less will do to face our current complex set of challenges. I believe that I am that leader because I have been doing this work for a long time with results that are not obvious to most.

The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu – whose work I read many times in both English and Classical Chinese beginning at the age of fifteen – claimed that “When the best kind of leaders complete their work the people say - We did it ourselves.”

Working with this model and implementing what I see as a gift for democratic political leadership and action I have quietly and patiently stood up for, fought for and worked for Canada and Canadians in many important ways - both on our soil and abroad.

A Modest Proposal

Now I propose that we take our collective goodwill, intelligence, skills and resources and build a hopeful world together along with global neighbours everywhere. “Come all who will for an alliance of the good-willed.”

The Math – calculations and analysis - tells me that we have all that we require to build another Canadian century of prosperity, Liberty and responsibility that will benefit people everywhere and build warm and lasting relations among nations as we all address this macro-crisis together. The Chinese word for crisis means 'danger and opportunity'.

In this way we will be better able to help allies and neighbours alike in an age of limitations. Who better to lead the world than a community of leaders!? Our best years lay ahead.

Daring Resolve

“As in the time of Sir Walter Scott, we are in need of “...people of daring resolve”. We are best when we harness and embrace those people of genius in our midst - in all sciences and branches of learning and research and endeavor. Science needs time to expand and space in which to grow. This requires political will that delivers responsible and reliable funding. 

This is the respectful and sensible approach I have taken in compiling The Plan of Hope. I've consulted Canadians in the process of assembling a wholly Canadian plan for a healthy, confident, successful, sustainable Canada – a priceless inheritance for our children.

We deserve government that respects us as the extraordinary people we are. Canadians are unlike any people who have ever lived anywhere at any time in human history. We deserve better and we can DO better. Stephen Harper is shortsighted and heavy handed and we need leadership that is warm hearted and able to recognize and respect the amazing qualities of the Canadian Citizen.”

- from Highways to Nowhere – Stephen Harper's Policy Plan for Canada

CANADA – Stand alone and work together!

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Highways to Nowhere – Stephen Harper's Policy Plan for Canada

Coming from the Northern bush as I do I have been on many roads that lead into the bush and then vanish amidst the wild vegetation and tangled underbrush of the boreal forest. Some are lumber roads that once led to the sites where timber or pulp logs were extracted selectively or in clear cutting rampages that obliterated tens of thousands of hectares of mature trees. These roads lead to vast treeless wastelands.

There are roads that once led to communities where a resource provided employment and opportunity – silver or gold or nickel or uranium or copper. These were mostly single resource communities. Still others were the result of plans gone astray. Great expectations in the marketing stages of a project ended in disappointment when the funding was not available to develop the property or project. And sometimes these roads to nowhere appeared as the result of a scam or a fraudulent action that brought investment based upon false exploration data. Roads to nowhere can have many reasons for existing.

Now I see the Prime Minister of Canada building roads to nowhere in the development of a national plan and policy direction for his government and for CANADA. He builds a station in the north for scientific and military purposes and promises investment. But later he cancels the second and third stages of the project once the media lights have dimmed and the reporters have gone on to the next story. He hopes that his next set of fabricated crises will obliterate this fact - for Stephen Harper is a disciple of Leo Strauss and a student of Tom Flanagan, "The Man Behind Stephen Harper".

Same thing with First Nations communities in crisis – I'm talking about Attawapiskat here. He makes noise and promises and prims and postures and makes speeches in distant lands far from his constituents. But he decides that an auditor will help those in financial crisis in First Nations communities. At the same time he ignores the recommendations and criticisms of the Auditor General of Canada on many matters of grave importance from the environment to the spending habits of this government and the interference by ministers in the affairs of government departments.

In the end nothing significant comes of his apology to First Nations and his rhetoric for he does not love the Canadian people - First Nations and ALL Nations - as I do. His heart is not moved with compassion as mine is for the poor, the distressed, those with illnesses, mental or otherwise, those in financial difficulties and without adequate employment. He does not even care about the wealthy and the secure but scorns all who stand in the way of his plan for Canada. He threatened us when he said, “When I get done with Canada even Canadians won't recognize it.”

Mr. Harper has no Vision of where we could go as a national community. He does not see what we are, could be and what we could achieve because his vision is tarnished with the biases of patronage and betrayal. He builds shortsighted policy roads because he cannot see where the roads SHOULD be taking us. We must go somewhere - adapt - if we are to remain an intact national community with a sustainable future in sight, and with Sustainability in all policies at the federal level and at every level.

Making military war on enemies chosen for their weakness and for financial gain [Libya/Afghanistan]; and too readily capitulating to our friends [UK/USA/NATO/UN] is not a recipe for independence and democracy. It is an affront. And speaking of war this government has made some prudent investments in equipment and training for our Armed Forces but they have no long term plan for a CANADA that can, “Stand alone and work together.” We can be too involved with the military enterprises of our allies.

This is why we have no final plans for air defense, no follow through with Northern deployment, no maintenance of the size of force we employ and deploy, no rescue helicopters, no usable [or reusable!] submarines, no shallow water rescue and defense Navy and Coast Guard boats – high speed with a shallow displacement and heavily weaponed for fiords, narrows, the North. 

There is no comprehensive and systematic fresh and salt water rescue and defense planning, emergency planning or Plan period. What exactly are we getting for the huge and ballooning military budget?

Nor does he care about our Vets as he should. Wounded vets have little or no support, little or no home, little or no stability, little or no peace of mind, little or no say in how things happen and in decision making with reference to their own care and career. We can and will do better than this with the Senator Romeo Dallaire Veterans of Foreign Service and Conflict Strategic Support Plan. @ Compassionate Policies.

Mr. Harper makes a big deal when a Canadian soldier returns dead. There is the ramp ceremony, the Highway of Heroes parade and the glorious burial. But there is little glory in what happens to veterans of these foreign conflicts and military actions, including peacekeeping – AND their families. They are abandoned, neglected, insulted, offended and treated with contempt; instead of being treated with the gratitude and care they deserve. They put it ALL on the line for us and this government seems unwilling to put it on the line for them in return as they deserve.

These roads to nowhere are not without cost or consequence to Canada and Canadians. There is the wasted money to be sure. But there are other threats that come with these pointless roads into the wilderness of economic potential for this country. If one misreads a topographical map in the deep Canadian bush it can mean death in the cold or in the jaws of predators – as in the case of young singer-songwriter in Cape Breton with coyotes or wolves. Then there was the poor couple in British Columbia who trusted their GPS and were led into a road to nowhere from which there would be no escape. Romance turned into a fatal nightmare of starvation, natural dangers, weather and wild beasts.

Building these roads and traveling on them create great hazards for us on many levels and in many ways. We have no sustainable fresh water policy, no progressive food policy, no renewal energy policy, no national defense strategy, no national housing strategy, and no clear Vision of where we can and should go together as a People.

As in the time of Sir Walter Scott, we are in need of “...people of daring resolve”. We are best when we harness and embrace those people of genius in our midst - in all sciences and branches of learning and research and endeavor. Science needs time to expand and space in which to grow. This requires political will that delivers responsible and reliable funding. 

This is the respectful and sensible approach I have taken in compiling The Plan of Hope. I've consulted Canadians in the process of assembling a wholly Canadian plan for a healthy, confident, successful, sustainable Canada – a priceless inheritance for our children.

We deserve government that respects us as the extraordinary people we are. Canadians are unlike any people who have ever lived anywhere at any time in human history. We deserve better and we can DO better. Stephen Harper is shortsighted and heavy handed and we need leadership that is warm hearted and able to recognize and respect the amazing qualities of the Canadian Citizen.

Peace Pays!

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First thoughts about blogging

'Be economical in all things' is a principle of sustainability.

When we are blogging...

The first and most important Principle of blogging is brevity. Think Twitter. The word wit is in the heart of Twitter btw. Also use links to expand the dimensions of the conversation and limit word numbers.

'Be economical in all things' is a principle of sustainability. Be compassionate to the Reader who can only read SO much. :)

A caveat [note of warning] about the Twitter Flow. Some folks seem to get enthralled by this constant tide and spend their time and resources reacting to every little Twitch. This is bad news and bad methodology. We must be guided by our own thinking not that of twittish provocateurs - trolls. Calm focused continuity is needed.

In this Information Age we are all bombarded with vast amounts of swirling data. We can and should ease the pressure on each other through the application of a few simple principles that will carry us into the heart of the Data Flow and out of the wind while creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust through the careful use of language.

We have some complex and important discussions to traverse together and bulk will not help - it will hinder and defeat our purposes. Everything seems to rest upon us Canadians for a hopeful future for and we cannot afford to fail.

I happen to be visually impaired. I was blind and my current visual abilities are a vast improvement thanks to medicare and surgery.  BUT long unbroken blocks of prose are a challenge for me. 

The same is true for most people online for various reasons - constraints of time, concentration and attention span, and the demands of life present limits. So please keep your comments brief – at least with short paragraphs and no more than six to ten of them – fewer if possible.

Be disciplined in your thought and composition and we can ride the Data Flow to victory. Lol

Peace

John

“Don't keep the peace...pass it on.”

Blind Man Sees Essays - True North Strong and Free

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Conclusion - 'The Future - Peace Pays - an essay about Canada

The Future: Peace Pays - Exploring The Canadian Identity

Canada is a nation coming of age in an historic Moment when we can make a significant difference in determining The Future of the world and our existent civilization.  

 

By deciding to pursue peaceful means and methods and goals we can influence the entire world and help shape The Future into The Canadian Dream of World Peace, prosperity, security and tolerance.  We do it all here on a daily basis and have proven that it’s possible for people of all kinds, types and backgrounds to live together in cooperation and peace.  And Peace enables discussion, problem solving, solutions and discoveries.

It begins by Canadians understanding who and what they are in and of themselves, and who we are in the broader scope of The Global Village and History.  We are unlike any people who have ever lived anywhere at any time.  This places a responsibility upon us to act in our collective best interests, which are the interests of all people and nations everywhere.  

This is a Moment of Opportunity that could easily dissolve into the mists of history.  We must grasp this historic opportunity and act, or lose the slender hope we embody while the world languishes in a fog of violence and destruction.

Canada is a Nation with great potential and great opportunity.  We can embrace this opportunity and share our riches with the world or we can perish with our brothers and sisters everywhere.  Stepping forward as a leader among nations and guiding the world towards peace and stability in a peace-based economic climate will instill a much-needed sense of hope for people everywhere.  

Let's turn our national character into national policy and reach out to a hurting world with the same Compassion we have extended to our fellow Canadians, who are of every Race, Nation, Language and Belief.  Together we are one Big Beautiful Red Machine, under the emblem of The Red Maple Leaf.

The World is in crisis and headed for disaster.  Canada can help through self-awareness and conscientious decision-making formulated into an “appropriate and compelling Vision” for Canada and for the world.  Welcome to the Golden Age of Canadian Culture.

Peace.

'Justice with Compassion'

'Peace Pays more and better than war.'

'Sustainability in ALL things'

 

Plenty of food for Canadian thought  @  Plan of Hope.

“Don’t keep the peace…pass it on.”

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The Future: Peace Pays - Exploring The Canadian Identity

The Future:  Peace Pays

- Exploring The Canadian Identity -

By John Williams

Copyright 2006

www.blindmansees.com

Introduction – Navigational Tools                                                          2

Imagining Canada                                                                                  3

The Mysterious Big Red Machine                                                          4

The Peace-based Economy                                                                   6

A World Center For Higher Education                                         

Canadian Culture                                                                                   7

Software                                                                                                8

Planning                                                                                                10

The Export Of Canadian Culture                                                 

-Economic Pods                                                                           

-Canada’s Historic National Dynamic                                              11

-Multilateralism                                                                             

-Partnerships                                                                                         

-Trade:  Goods And Services                                                        

Promotion Of Peace   [ From The Military to The Ordinary ]                 12

Global Warming and The Reforestation of The Earth                 

A Home For Research                                                                            13

-Alternative Energy                                                                       

-Science                                                                                      

-Ecological Solutions                                                                     

-Agriculture                                                                                  

-Distribution and Management Systems                                         

-Medical Research                                                                        14

A Place For Quebec                                                                    

A Place For All                                                                                       15

-The West                                                                                    

-The East                                                                                     

-The North                                                                                   

-The South                                                                                   

-The Center                                                                                 

Food and Water:  A Lesson From China                                                16

Language – Multilingualism in The Universal Culture       

Technology                                                                                            17

-Applications and Innovations                                                        

The Treatment Of People                                                                      18

Conclusion                                                                                            19

“Don’t keep the peace…pass it on.”

Introduction­ – Navigational Tools

This essay is the third in a set or series.  Taken together these essays are intended to help Canadians see where we’ve been, where we are, and where we could go culturally, politically and socially.  Our cultural origins are briefly covered in “Egerton Ryerson:  Father Of Education In Ontario.'

As sound information and education are essential to the maintenance and operation of a Democracy, it is important to consider our educational practices carefully as these will determine much in terms of what is possible in The Present and The Future.  Thus I have put this first in the series.  It is a fine line sketch of our Past.

The second essay, which was published first out of the pressing necessity of some serious and threatening dysfunction in our Society, examines our Present. Again I have focused upon our Nation’s strengths and weaknesses and some choices which are available to us.  The thesis of “Our Most Precious Treasures:  The Rights Of Children”, is that Canada cannot move briskly ahead to our destiny without extending Equal Rights to our children. 

Yet we embody tremendous potential.  An examination of our education systems reveals that with minor adjustment Canada could easily implement a new education model that would be better suited to our present and future needs and opportunities.  It could be a model for the global community. 

In this third essay I look ahead to a possible Future Canada.  As I see it Canada has lived a life of modest genius.  We have quietly, peacefully, diplomatically and effectively built a Nation that is the envy of people of every nation.  But by and large Canadians (all Canadians!) seem to be missing a few details in their collective self-perception that may be critical to our continuing success as a political entity; as a nation that is functional, Just and Compassionate.

They do not see who and what they are individually and collectively, nor do they see the beauty of that in a world of dark fear and futility.  This third essay,” The Future:  Peace Pays [Exploring The Canadian Identity]”, intends to help Canadians see and understand the amazing group of individuals they are, and what that can mean to us and to our international neighbours today and tomorrow.  We are in a position where we could make some basic decisions that could help all people of all nations, while fulfilling our collective sense of purpose and moving towards what seems our appropriate Destiny.

We are a strong, smart, Just, Compassionate, Free, co-operative, hardworking, inclusive, creative people forged from people of all Nations.  Thus we are equipped to reach back to every nation and every people to share our blessings.  This can bring stability, peace and opportunity to all of Humanity and to our home, The Earth. 

In getting perspective on Past, Present and Future, Canadians will be better informed about who they are and will be enabled to navigate safely through the dangers of life in 21^st Century.  I trust the Canadian people and these essays are a token of that trust.  Democracy is about common people making effective practical decisions that serve their real needs, dreams and desires.  It’s all about being informed and making choices based upon good information.  I hope and pray that my efforts make this journey to The Future easier and more swift.

RJW

Guelph, Canada. May 2006.

Imagining Canada

It is obvious to the entire Canadian population that we are in serious and urgent need of strong Leadership that can guide The Nation through these days of uncertainty.  We require “an appropriate and compelling Vision” for the Nation that possesses sufficient strength and stability to enable us to deal with current challenges and crises, while moving us rapidly to the place we must go; a “place” of stability, security, prosperity, hope, safety, and a place of freedom where Democratic Values and Rights and Freedoms are first in our hierarchy of values.

Canada is an extraordinary place where these Values have been planted, nurtured, cultivated and respected.  We may literally be the best hope for the future of the world.  I have explored these ideas in my (previous) essay Our Most Precious Treasures:  The Rights Of Children [Part 2 of 3].  My appeal for Equal Rights for our children is not simply idealistic, it is also pragmatic in that their Rights, as I have argued, are the key to our future.

Canada is a Nation poised on the edge of greatness.  We have managed to develop and maintain a society and culture unlike any other.  We have peace and good public security that respects and protects the Rights of all under the Law, Constitution, and Charter Of Rights And Freedoms.  We have good government at every level and democratic processes to use in governing ourselves.   

We have a Judicial system that sincerely and effectively delivers Justice most of the time.  We have a strong economy, a moderately healthy population, vibrant education systems, excellent communications and transportation systems reaching to all of the world.

For those of us with any significant awareness of what actually happens in the day-to-day lives of citizens of most nations, Canada is an extraordinary Anomaly; a convergence of a special set of people, conditions, values, resources, and sense of fairness.  This is “Cultures In Collision”.  

We have found ways to diplomatically and democratically co-exist.  Yet this special set of conditions will not remain intact for long.  We have a window of historical opportunity.  We can teach the world our way of living together in respect, and under fair laws that protect the Rights of all individuals. 

The literature of Latin America is a story of dark tyrannical regimes that have made government a blood-sport.  The same truth of despotic and cruel regimes has emerged from places around the world in their literatures.  However Canada produces a literature of hopeful analysis that has grown in our peaceful society.  All aspects of our National Culture bear the same sweet fruit of human liberty, respect, opportunity, and peace.

In order to share “this treasure hidden in our mountain” we require a good Plan.  This Plan must incorporate and combine some essential components.  The first is economic viability.  So how can we bolster our National Sovereignty and Security while moving rapidly to a prosperous Peace-based Economy?  In a word, easily.    

We already possess all of the resources necessary to move decisively in this direction, and in the process we can share our culture, help the world, and prosper, while we demonstrate to the world that Peace Pays more and better than war.

John Lennon invited us to Imagine, and we have.  Now I invite you to Imagine a new Canada with me.

The Mysterious Big Red Machine

Nations are machines.  All machines (Nations) are unique and serve the purposes of the designers.  They can only do what they were designed to do. Canada is an interesting and unique “machine”, but it’s clear that no one knows what it’s for or how to use it.

Nations are machinelike.  These are instruments for government.  Canada is like a big red shiny machine designed to carry people into The Future.  It’s a beautiful and well-tuned machine that is enjoyed and admired by many at home and in the Global Community.

Allow me to explore this metaphor briefly.  Imagine a large brick building with big doors.  Inside the building sits a big shiny red machine.  People adore The Machine, yet often take it for granted.  There is a large team of people assigned to protect, maintain and clean The Machine regularly; all good technicians with the best of training.

Occasionally, on a hot summer day in July The Team rolls The Machine out onto the paved parking lot where throngs of people gather to admire The Machine and to celebrate its existence.  It’s a joyful occasion.  People climb on The Machine, sit in its many seats, examine its sophisticated tools and gear.  They have their pictures taken while sitting in the driver’s seat wearing a helmet.  

At the end of the day The Team rolls The Machine back into the building, there to shine, maintain and protect it.  They are proudly convinced that this is by far the best machine of its kind.  In fact there is no other one like it.  This is the opinion of The Team and The Others.

There is one puzzling problem faced by The Team.  From time to time a very loud bell rings in the building and distracts them from their duties.  Also people come to the doors of The Building seeking assistance with every imaginable problem.  These interruptions can become frustrating to The Team Members as they strive with complete dedication to protect and nurture The Machine and its set of futuristic technologies.  They have become the envy of every Team everywhere.

One day a fellow wearing their uniform comes to the door.  They recognize immediately that this is their superior officer, a person with authority over them, over The Building, and over The Machine itself.

“How is The Machine working?”  asked The Captain.

“Working?” asked The Team leader.

“Yes, how does The Big Red Machine work on the job?”

“The job?  We didn’t know that The Machine had been designed and built with a purpose.”  And so they explained the role and function of The Machine as they understood it.

“So then,” continued The Captain, “let me be clear.  You don’t know what The Machine is supposed to do!?  Then let me tell you…better still, I’ll also show you.

This machine is called a Fire Engine.  That annoying bell you hear is the fire alarm calling you to come quickly to the assistance of those in distress.”  So he helped them learn how to use The Big Red Machine.

It is my assertion that Canada is a Big Shiny Red Fire Engine, designed and well-suited to assist the world to put out the fires of war and ignorance and hunger and injustice and suffering as we have done and are doing here at home.  With the resources we possess as a Nation and the right Plan we could be tens of thousands of times more effective in our collective effort to bring sanity and stability to a world at war.  We don’t really have to change much, except direction.

The world is stuck in a Crisis Mode and requires a way to relieve the overall pressure while moving in the direction of practical peace.  The practice of peace is badly needed everywhere.  Canada is a dynamic machine that may be the world’s best hope at a critical juncture.  We alone have demonstrated a refined ability to include all people equally and fairly under a Just Law.

Presently we are making inroads in many places globally and in every imaginable kind of circumstance and situation.  The right Plan will enable a rapid multiplication of the impact of our culture upon world culture.  We have cobbled together a society with people of all nations, tribes, languages, and beliefs.  We are a nation of unity within diversity.

This is the lesson and blessing we can share with the world and thereby lessen the atmosphere of violent chaos.  It would be so easy.  And in the process we could prosper through the marketing of peace-based technologies.  We can show the world how to “Make Peace Pay”.  What follows is a sketch of what could so easily be…

The Peace-based Economy

Peace is not sign of weakness, just as violence is not a sign of strength.  Peace requires strength, self-restraint, discipline, and a pursuit of genuine self-interest.  Canada has successfully achieved a peaceful, free and Just Society where Compassion is a governing principle.

A simple decision to strategically and intentionally move towards a Peace-based Economy would be a strong statement to the world and an assertion of our Core Values.  The energetic pursuit of a select group of economic bases could bring rapid economic growth while providing the means for sharing our Methods, Values and Culture through the mechanisms of a new futuristic economy that excludes the need for bloodshed from the pursuit of large-scale economic gain.  We can prove that Peace Pays more than war.

Canada is a world leader in a number of critical areas:  education; alternative energy technologies and research;  environmental and ecological solutions; scientific research and applications that are peaceful; diplomacy and jurisprudence; legislative responsibility; high-tech communications and media; policing and law enforcement; the Arts and entertainment; agriculture; management and administration; Human Relations.  

Policies could be easily introduced that are Global in magnitude that support and reward the development and worldwide distribution of these things that characterize us as a People and unify us as a Nation.  Consider the following.

A World Center For Higher Education

Education is a key factor in the formation of cultures and the building of societies.  Canada is a highly literate Society.  We have somewhere in the area of twenty-seven universities in Canada.  Imagine if we doubled this number in ten years and tripled it in fifteen years in order to accommodate students from all over the world.  They are already coming and many more want to come.  

All we have to do is systematically build more institutions of higher learning until the entire country is part of a system for the education of the world.  This will create jobs for academics, scholars, researchers, maintenances staff, building trades personnel, and many others.  We have an overabundance of highly educated people who would leap at such opportunity.

These universities, along with a proportional number of colleges, would be distributed fairly across Canada’s entire land mass, in all provinces, territories, regions and areas.  The world is crying out for the kind of education we can provide.  And those who come and study and spend time here will be infected with our peaceful culture, which I believe to be our most powerful resource.

Hosting International Students could not only make the higher education
systems financially independent and self supporting, it could be
sufficiently lucrative so as to make higher education cost free for all
qualified Canadians.  And qualification ought to be flexible and inclusive.
This approach would catapult Canada to the forefront of Global education.

Preparation for futuristic higher education must begin now in our primary
and secondary schools.  Current education models are obsolete and there is a pressing need for us to introduce new models that include new Science (- e.g. Quantum Theory), Health and Linguistics studies.  We can succeed by believing in our children and equipping them for the complex challenges they will face.

Canadian Culture

Few Canadians understand the power and significance that is imbedded in our Culture.  It was Canadian Culture that finally bridged the Iron Curtain with a hockey tournament.  It was Canadian Culture and the assistance of an elected Member of Parliament, The Honourable Eugene Whelan, Minister of Agriculture, that helped to dismantle the Soviet Union and introduce Perestroika and Glasnost, the policies which lifted the Curtain of Darkness and brought hope to East Europe.   

These policies, according to Mikhail Gorbachev, then Agriculture Minister for The Soviet Union, “were developed on The Canadian Model.”  And this transformative socio-political plan was formulated on Canadian soil at Mr. Whelan’s home near Windsor, Ontario.

Few know how I carried Canadian Culture to China twenty-five years ago, a mission which has had profoundly positive consequences that can be seen in the new China as portrayed on the current CBC series “China Rises.”  Only a Canadian could walk into the then closed and cloistered China and share democratic ideas.  Dr. Norman Bethune, hero of the Chinese Revolution, made this possible for me, one Canadian opening the door of opportunity to another.   

This was the first spark that ignited the massive social and industrial and cultural revolution that is now in high gear in the ancient Middle Kingdom.  This act of intervention was intended to preempt the dangerous potential of China as it existed at that time.  China was a threat to the entire world and much has changed in this regard.  Now she is open, prosperous and integrated into the Global Community.  This is in stark contrast to the China I entered.

Few are aware that a young woman lawyer from Georgetown, Ontario is in Bosnia, helping that nation to build a future with a new legal code “based on the Canadian model.”  And all of the legal codes (criminal, civil, military, corporate, traffic and transportation, international Law) introduced in South Africa at the end of Apartheid were built upon “The Canadian Model”.

More people are aware of former Prime Minister L.B. Pearson’s diplomatic success in the formation of The United Nations organization.  He received a Nobel Peace Prize in our behalf for this work.  And we know of Canadian heroes like Astronaut Marc Garneau who leads us Spaceward; and Stephen Lewis who, as UN Special Commissioner for AIDS in Africa, is singlehandedly spearheading a Global solution to the horrors of this disease.

We know how to make friends through acts of courageous generosity.  We do not kill, we heal.  We do not hinder, we help.  We do not enslave, we set at liberty.  We strive with greater and greater success to be Just and Compassionate with Citizens, visitors, and all people of all nations, faiths and languages.  In so doing we have become the hub and envy of the world.

But we know that the entire world can enjoy the blessings we enjoy.  And we can teach them, help them, support them, learn from them, befriend them.  We have, we are, and we will.  We can teach the world the most special thing that we know in the process:  how to live together in respectful peace.

We can share our “Software” with the world and thereby enable them to build and possess what we have:  freedom, equality, Rights, opportunity, cooperation, prosperity, support, security, efficiency, economy, productivity and peace and hope.

Software

In this essay and elsewhere I have mentioned and made reference to something I call Software.  In some cases I have called it Cultural Software, Social Software and Human Software, and sometimes Lifestyle Technologies.  These ideas are all related, and in some cases are inter-changeable.  The term Software can refer to any or all of these.

I think of this ‘Software’ as the systems, methodologies, practices, traditions, ideas, organizational methods, thinking styles and methods we employ:  Lifestyle Technologies.  All that Humans do is governed by Values, Traditions, Ideas, Methods, and so forth.  These are each and altogether Software.  As with Computer Technology, these Softwares often come in packages and we know who invented, designed and implemented them.  We know when and how.

It can be something as basic as the way we move goods, people, and services from place to place.  One example of this would be our roads, highways and freeway systems.  These require road surfaces with hidden infrastructure for power, drainage, et cetera.  Then we have signage, traffic laws and regulations, licensing for vehicles and drivers.  Add to this traditions and styles of driving.   

Many details go into these transportation systems, including the design, manufacture and regulation of these interlocking systems.  These systems have proven to be largely and increasingly complex, effective, efficient, safe, productive, economical; some more so than others.

By thinking about these or other systems as Software and as Software “packages” we can better evaluate and improve our culture, society, government, judicial systems, law enforcement, industry and commerce, Human Relations, communications, family life, education, and even our personal Core Beliefs.

The source of this form of thinking in our modern era can be traced back to the invention of “practical existentialism” or Phenomenology.  This methodology was created by Edmund Husserl in the early Twentieth Century.  Husserl’s “philosophy” has quietly and profoundly affected all of Humanity from the most elevated scholars to the lowest of labourers in field, forest or factory.  This analytical method is a central functional component in The Universal Culture, a term and phenomenon which I have explored elsewhere in my essays.

As Canada is situated at the heart and axis of The Universal Culture, and consequently in a position to affect and influence the world, it is vital that we make good choices, and that we write [make] and distribute good Software.  For we will be sharing it with people everywhere and it will be put to the intense test of Human life on Planet Earth.

Our “Software” is our strongest asset in Canada.  We incorporate it into everything and in every imaginable situation.  Canadian Software nurtures peace, economic strength and stability, social and political stability, democratic values and practices, Justice and Equality, the dissolution of violent differences and the reconciliation of enemies.  It works at home and abroad.  And it does much more and can do far far more still.  All we have to do is use our methods to the utmost and the world will be safer, friendlier, cleaner, more prosperous and productive, more creative and rational, more in every way.

Our artists and thinkers and cultural practitioners of all types from lawyers to judges to politicians to bureaucrats to law enforcement personnel and many others embody this remarkable Canadian Culture.  It’s in our bus drivers, teachers, athletes, waiters and pretty much everyone.  And it has proven to be a powerful force for peaceful change in the world.  The increased export of our culture in all of its forms will continue to reshape The Earth into a place that is more friendly for Human (and other) habitation.  This initiative can help a desperate and hurting world to find help (self help), hope, and healing.

 

Planning

Planning helps create success.  Good planning brings good results.  Sadly most people do not know how to plan.  This is an area in which our primary and secondary education systems have proven deficient.

Making an effective Plan is an easy thing to do, and the process is easily learned.  It could be easily taught to children.  This would eliminate the random waste of resources that is such a plague upon Nation and Citizens.  What follows could easily become components of a Plan for a Future Canada.  If we can dream it we can make it.

The Export Of Canadian Culture

See my short essays:  “ The Transformation of Culture”, “Honey”, “Canada True North and Free”, “The New Patriotism”, “Ice As A Factor In The Development Of The Canadian Character”. @ www.blindmansees.com in Essays.

I am convinced that Canadian Culture embodies special qualities and properties that enable stability, freedom, prosperity, peace and hope.  We have been able to consistently discover practical applications for our lifestyle technologies in every part of the world and in every type of activity and endeavour.  We need a simple set of cultural tools with which to deliver this antidote for violence and destructive behaviour to all parts of the world in a systematic and economical manner.

Economic Pods

There has been a trend in the Canadian economy towards the application of what I call Economic Pods.  These are collectives that are formed for short or long-term projects and have been used successfully by Canadians.  From the Federal Government’s Trade junkets to China, Russia and elsewhere, to Quebec’s initiatives to France as a door into the European Union economic market, to small-business people attending trade shows or conferences, Canadians apply our historic ability to be co-operative in order to serve collective needs.  And we do it of our own free will, rather than by doctrine.  Creativity is always a feature of these Pods.

A clear and strong set of policies that encourage this kind of strategic foray into world markets, coupled with economic and financial incentives, could serve Canada and Canadians well.  We also need to strategically and urgently support Canadian artists and cultural workers of all kinds in their efforts to take their goods and services to Global markets.  We have a glut of art and artists, just as we have a glut of scholars and academics.  We want to keep the scholars and academics home and put them to work, while we export the art and artists who produce the materials, ideas, and outlooks that make Canada unique and important.

Canada’s Historic National Dynamic

Beginning in the era of Confederation (1867) Canada has sought both politically and culturally to build a strong, functional, independent and enduring Nation and national identity.  The notion of “from sea to shining sea” was realized and bound together by policy and an infrastructure with a railroad reaching from Atlantic to Pacific Oceans.

Presently this integrated east-west axis is in a weakened state.  This is in part due to our cultural, social, economic, political and military ties to The United States of America, the most powerful and influential nation in the world.  An excessive percentage of our international trade in goods and service moves on a north-south axis.  This puts our national identity, unity, security and independence in a compromised state against absorption and hegemony.

Multilateralism

Canada’s historic Federal policy of multilateralism could be strengthened through returning to an east-west axis that reaches across Canada, then beyond to Europe in the east and China, India and Asia in the west.

Partnerships

The nurture and development of international partnerships, trading partners and allies on a multilateral basis will create greater national security and stability.  Partnership is an integral part of the Canadian psyche and culture.

Trade:  Goods And Services

Trade in Goods And Services has been a key to Canada’s recent economic success.  From oil products to electricity and other energy types and sources to agricultural products, transportation products, tools and technologies, to high technologies for communication and so on, Canada is a world-class trading nation.

Carrying our Goods and Services to every part and corner of the world will strengthen our independence while sharing our lifestyle and values everywhere.  It will also bring economic growth and stability.  These tendencies are already strongly embedded in Canadian life and could be easily enhanced through policy and financial and tax incentives.  An increase in the export of Canadian Goods and Services will further strengthen the tax base while asserting and exerting our position in The Universal Culture.

Promotion Of Peace   [ From The Military to The Ordinary ]

Since the mid-Twentieth Century Canada has emerged as a nation characterized by Peace.  Politically, militarily, socially and culturally the theme of Peace has been central to our development, maturation and evolution as a Nation.  We have come to be trusted internationally as a result of this Federal and social policy.

Canada could easily capitalize on this national characteristic by promoting Peace in a more efficient, intentional, organized and systematic manner.  If we exerted ourselves and our resources as urgently and strongly for the purpose of Peace as we (and others) have mobilized for the purpose of war then we could extend and strengthen our influence and demonstrate that Peace Pays.  Making Peace Pay will dramatically alter the world economic philosophies.   The world needs evidence that Peace Pays more than war.

In order to achieve this we need only apply what I call The Technologies of Peace to every aspect of our society.  This is already a widespread and existent phenomenon and only requires broader application and some tweaking.  The Canadian military forces are already recognized worldwide as Peace keepers and peace makers.  Taking a lesson and example from this noble Canadian institution of our society will help transform Canada and Canadians, from The Military to The Ordinary.

Global Warming and The Reforestation of The Earth

One troubling challenge with which we are faced is Global Warming.  This problem is already being addressed to some degree.  But what we really need is a Global Cooling and Air Conditioning System to lower The Earth’s atmospheric temperature while providing a large supply of oxygen and filtering the air.

The solution to this problem is simple:  trees.  Lots and lots of trees across the face of The Earth.  See my essay “Icebergs At Risk: Global Reforestation” @ www.blindmansees.com

A Home For Research

Alternative Energy

We need a National Energy Strategy that rewards research, development, and distribution of clean and inexpensive and environmentally friendly energy sources.  Canada is crowded with people who are developing and implementing, and in some cases marketing alternative energy sources.   

We could easily create a new electrical grid interface that is fed by a conglomerate of alternative generation systems and that could be coordinated to provide adequately for our base energy needs.  Then we can export these technologies to a world in urgent search of inexpensive ecological solutions.  We can do this.

Science

We need to follow the lead of Canadian communities like Waterloo that has become home to The Perimeter Institute for Research In Theoretical Physics; or The Province of Saskatchewan which has built a research infrastructure that has brought the world’s leading research and researchers to Saskatoon.  Creating welcoming conditions will attract the best minds and those who love freedom and all of the beautiful components of Canadian Culture.  This is ‘sustainable’ economics.

Ecological Solutions

We need prompt, effective, efficient and economical solutions to our looming ecological crisis:  water, soil, and air.  And we need a comprehensive strategy that will enable us to achieve healthy environmental conditions quickly and inexpensively.  A clean environment will reduce health care costs.  We have a world respected leader in environmental sustainability in our midst at The University of Alberta in the person of Doctor David Schindler.  We need his kind of expertise applied broadly to our compromised and struggling environment.

Agriculture

Canada is a highly productive nation in the area of Agriculture.  We have much to teach the world and we are well along in the process of helping other nations implement similar Agricultural management systems on large and small scales.

Distribution and Management Systems

In Canada we have developed and implemented agricultural management, support and distribution systems that give us access to the best world markets in livestock, fowl, grains, oilseed crops, et cetera.  Versions of these methods and systems can be easily shared worldwide.  These are also “technologies” and Software.

Medical Research

It is a rare week in The News that we do not see reports of some significant breakthrough in Medical and medicine research by Canadians and Canadian research facilities across The Nation.  We need more of the same in order to move us quickly into the era of The New Medicine.

A Place For Quebec

Historically there has been much debate and wrangling over the place of Quebec in Canada.  I believe this controversy could be quickly and easily resolved in order to enable Canada to get to the real business at hand, which is the resolution of the all-embracing crisis we face as part of The Global Community.

Quebec has proven herself to be a creative, colourful and innovative leader in Canada.  This province has forged a unique place for itself in our midst and, in so doing, has enriched and inspired us all while making everyone more accountable.  This is leadership.

Furthermore La Belle Province has produced some of our Prime Ministers and other leaders.  Quebec has helped nurture tolerance, respect for Rights, cultural diversity and dignity and linguistic diversity, while creating a persistent tension in Canadian life that has helped us to know ourselves better and find self-respect.  And the forceful and unique culture of French Canadians has elevated the entire Nation and others beyond our borders.

Now Quebec is uniquely and strategically poised to provide Canada with valuable options.  The Government of Quebec has established unique diplomatic Rights and has used those diplomatic ties (especially with France) to open an economic and political channel to Europe and the Global French speaking community.  These established relationships could easily help Canada forge security at home and abroad and would simultaneously help Canada in the pursuit of the broad multilateralism that enables widespread and growing international security.

A Place For All

Co-operation brings better results than strife.  Provinces, regions, citizens and the Federal Government should work to ensure that “the other” succeeds.  Success for one is success for all.  We prove this daily in Canada.

The West

The Gateway To The West is a broad infrastructure project currently underway in Western Canada.  Pipelines, power, ports and personnel are creating a doorway to trade with Asia.  This is another existent reality that will more easily enable our pursuit of Asian markets and alliances.  And it should be an example to Canadians of what we could do in other directions, namely East and South.

The East

A similar “Gateway To The East” could and should be built to enable expanded trade and commerce with The European Union and others.  The EU is now the world’s second largest trading market, after the USA.

The North

The development of The North, from North Atlantic to North Pacific is critical to our Sovereignty and National Security.  The development and opening of The North will also have long-term economic and financial consequences.  Aboriginal self-government and peaceful prompt settling of Aboriginal Land Claims is an urgent component in our future survival and security.

The South

International ties that are strong and extend beyond our immediate neighbors to the South will also benefit Canada.  Part of our future self-interest lays in relations with Latin America.

The Center

The “Center” in Canada needs to be Everywhere and regarded as being embodied in each citizen.  Decentralization on a broader scale is required in the form of deeper and wider democratization in all regions, institutions, political parties, and so on.  Yet a strong Federal Government will remain central to our survival and prosperity in the 21^st Century.

Food and Water:  A Lesson From China

China was an Empire with an Emperor for thousands of years.  During this time a series of dynasties arose and fell, some brief and some quite lengthy.  In order to impose meaning upon this rising and falling of these governmental systems and controlling groups, Chinese historians [ like Ssu-Ma Ch’ien] formulated a theory of history called The Dynastic Cycle.

This theory held that an emperor or dynasty occupied the throne and held the right to govern by virtue of The Will of Heaven resting upon them:  this was akin to “the divine right to rule” in European and other monarchies and theocracies.  The theory further stated that The Mandate of Heaven could be lost by failing to meet the two central criteria for government.  These were that the people be fed, and that the water be effectively managed to avoid water shortages and the ever-present problem of floods.

Although in The West we look for a broad scope of qualities and abilities in Democratic leaders and leadership, these two “conditions of government” remain relevant and instructive.  In Canada we presently have more than sufficient food production and accessibility for our own needs.  Yet a cursory examination will reveal that we are in jeopardy of spoiling every fresh water source in our land mass.  The Auditor General’s Report On The Environment will demonstrate more clearly just how compromised our natural environment has become.

This is a critical situation that could be quickly, easily and economically corrected.  Dr. David Schindler, Canada’s leading water management specialist, could easily engineer the recovery of our fresh water sources and their preservation.

Language – Multilingualism in The Universal Culture

Our “language philosophy” is no longer adequate to our real situation and needs. Bilingualism is insufficient to the needs of Canada and Canadians.  My own life and situation is a good illustration of my point.

I am technically an Anglophone, though I understand that my paternal ancestors who first came to North America were French speaking Welsh Roman Catholics who were descended from those displaced by the English Protestant Revolution in the Seventeenth Century.  They settled in Quebec, coming from France in The Eighteenth Century, and speaking French after several generations of residence in that host nation.

My paternal grandfather was an English speaking resident of Niagara Falls, Ontario.  My father made his residence in Northeastern Ontario and was bilingual (French and English) before it was Federal Policy.  My hometown of Kirkland Lake is located about fifty kilometers from the Quebec border and has always had significant English and French speaking populations.  But my hometown was a blend of people of many languages, notably Italian, Polish, Ukrainian and Chinese, as well as a large Jewish community.

I learned my first French words and phrases from my Father, brothers, and neighbourhood children whose first language was often French.  I was delighted when compulsory French lessons were introduced while I was in grade school.  Then I had a traumatic experience with a French teacher in high school, involving sexual abuse, which put me off of the study of this interesting subject.

As a very young child I had an interest in China and the Chinese language.  I now have a degree in Chinese Studies from the University of Toronto and studied Chinese languages and culture for all of my adult life.  At this point I remain bilingual, but in English and Mandarin Chinese, with French as my “third” language and Spanish as a fourth, and so on.  As with many Europeans and Asians, I have had to learn at least a little of many languages and I’ve studied about a dozen or more formally.

It is my contention that we (Canada) are living at the axis or center of The Universal Culture, that mix of all cultures, which we have embraced and refined in Canada.  The Universal Culture requires multilingualism, which is not to dismiss our two Primary Languages nor the planned addition of at least one Aboriginal Language to this short list.  

Rather I suggest that we embrace and value and apply all languages, whether verbal, numerical or otherwise.  In “The Information Age“ Communication, rather than language, is the key to our success.

Technology

Canada is at the forefront of technological development, application, manufacturing and distribution.  We have demonstrated a capacity for innovation and creativity in science and technology.  We could continue to move ahead in this area of economic development through the development and sharing of peaceful technologies and technological applications worldwide.

Applications and Innovations

For instance, Canada could become a leader in extra-terrestrial housing through the development of force-field technologies.  Force-field technology could also have application in the placement of levees for protection of cities like New Orleans.  

We could become world leaders in the development and peaceful application of this technology as we did with nuclear power and the nuclear technologies we have exported worldwide, along with telecommunication systems, highway and transportation technologies, agricultural technologies, environmental technologies, Human Relations technologies that are effective and respectful, and on and on and on.

Canada is already a recognized center for research, innovation and development.  Much of this success is due to our ability to fill small niche markets and then capitalize upon specialization.  Force-field technologies could do this for us in The Future, both on the Earth and in Space, as well as in the unexplored Ocean depths.

Canada has found a unique and valuable role in the International Space Station initiative.  Astronauts and technologies like the Canadarm have helped make this set of experiments a success.  We can do more of the same as the exploration and exploitation of Space continues.  And Canadian Aerospace and Robotics developers will also play an important role in the exploration and exploitation of Space.

The Treatment Of People

There remains a tendency in our society to make life difficult for others.  Government, institutions, processes and values that are currently existent aim at getting up or ahead at the expense of someone else or others.  There is an unhelpful “competitive” streak amongst Canadians.  If our purpose is to help, support, assist and elevate everyone, then this is an obsolete set of conditions and tools with which to accomplish our goal.  

If our governments sought to do everything in their power to support people, rather than setting obstacles in the way, then we would all benefit.  We could make it our goal to remove the obstacles to personal and corporate success and to ensure a minimization of obstacles while maximizing helpful resources.

One major obstacle to Canada becoming everything we could be is poverty.  Our current practices, policies and regulations poise government as the enemy of people.  People are held in suspicion while financial and other help is withheld that could easily give people a “leg up” out of poverty.  Instead we keep a large portion of the population poor:  poorly fed; poorly clothed; poorly educated; poorly housed.  

We employ systems that pit citizen against government and vice-versa.  If we had friendly government, rather than contentious ones, then the results would be vastly better.

We are a Democracy.  This means that we imagine, discuss and decide how we govern ourselves.  Canadians prefer to be treated with Compassion.  And we prefer to extend Compassion rather than retribution.  This is a National personality characteristic.

Presently Governments stand in the way of peace of mind; secure living accommodations; stability in families (Children’s Aid is regarded as a threat, and rightly so.); access to appropriate and effective education; equal opportunity for those with no French language skills; political parties that are inclusive and democratic rather than oligarchic and exclusive; a fair distribution of wealth; and more.  

The principles and practices of democracy in every aspect and quadrant of Canadian society would better enable the will of the people to be heard and implemented.  The Canadian people can be trusted.  We are a kind, informed, sincere, gifted, hardworking people who are willing to take risks for all that we believe in.

Generally speaking it appears that we treat people who are in crisis elsewhere with greater kindness, compassion and unchecked support than we do those in our own country who are in crisis.  We should do at least as much for Canadians as we do for others.  This is an oversight on the part of Canadians and our governments; a misplacement of emphasis.  

We are kind to the African or Asian child suffering in and from poverty, but keep our own children in poverty by legislation and policy.  We should set goals that lift everyone out of poverty and into a stable and productive condition rather than keeping people in poverty- ridden circumstances.

Conclusion

Canada is a nation coming of age in an historic Moment when we can make a significant difference in determining The Future of the world and our existent civilization.  By deciding to pursue peaceful means and methods and goals we can influence the entire world and help shape The Future into The Canadian Dream of World Peace, prosperity, security and tolerance.  We do it all here on a daily basis and have proven that it’s possible for people of all kinds, types and backgrounds to live together in cooperation and peace.  And Peace enables discussion, problem solving, solutions and discoveries.

It begins by Canadians understanding who and what they are in and of themselves, and who we are in the broader scope of The Global Village and History.  We are unlike any people who have ever lived anywhere at any time.  This places a responsibility upon us to act in our collective best interests, which are the interests of all people and nations everywhere.  

This is a Moment of Opportunity that could easily dissolve into the mists of history.  We must grasp this historic opportunity and act, or lose the slender hope we embody while the world languishes in a fog of violence and destruction.

Canada is a Nation with great potential and great opportunity.  We can embrace this opportunity and share our riches with the world or we can perish with our brothers and sisters everywhere.  Stepping forward as a leader among nations and guiding the world towards peace and stability in a peace-based economic climate will instill a much-needed sense of hope for people everywhere.  

Let us turn our national character into national policy and reach out to a hurting world with the same Compassion we have extended to our fellow Canadians, who are of every Race, Nation, Language and Belief.  Together we are one Big Beautiful Red Machine, under the emblem of The Red Maple Leaf.

The World is in crisis and headed for disaster.  Canada can help through self-awareness and conscientious decision-making formulated into an “appropriate and compelling Vision” for Canada and for the world.  Welcome to the Golden Age of Canadian Culture.

Peace.

“Don’t keep the peace…pass it on.”

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