Value(s)
Patriotism and Canadian are seldom viewed as synonyms. But here we are. Press us from outside and we realize that we are not American. I lived and taught in New York City in the 1960s and loved being there. I find it hard to realize what a different country it is now. I also grew up in an industrial city – Kitchener, Ontario, whose economy at the time was primarily manufacturing. Its twin city, Waterloo, was seen as less prosperous. The situation totally reversed in the digital revolution where its university and tech start ups made Waterloo a San Francisco of the north. But it didn’t produce any billionaires who decided to run the country.
What makes us different? We have our own polarizations - -usually conflicts between federal and provincial powers. We have several political parties, which means we often have minority governments that need at least one other party to support them. The US president has given us an unexpected gift of recognizing that more unites us than divides us. Tomorrow on Friday March 14, we will have a new prime minister and a new federal cabinet.
The new prime minister wrote about value and values during the pandemic. It might be worth noting what Mark Carney said about his own values in a book that explained economic understanding of monetary value but also human ones:
“Growing up, I learned from my family, neighbours, friends and our country the values of integrity, responsibility, solidarity and hard work. I gained an appreciation of our cultural mosaic and enjoyed opportunities to engage in my community and serve our country. Like others, I have drawn on Canadian strengths in public education and healthcare and I have been raised in an environment where leaders must force a consensus toward a common vision and then take principled disciplined action.
For those gifts I owe a great debt to our country”.
As do we all.
Notes:
Carney, Mark. Value(s) Building a Better World for all. Penguin, paperback edition, Random House Canada, 2022. Originally published by Signal, 2021.