A potpourri of thoughts

I hope readers will forgive me. I hate nothing more than inconsistency and -- worse yet -- missing deadlines. The last few weeks, between my post-Executive Board reporting crunch, the useless creation of last-minute lobbying reports and meeting minutes, and responding to an avalanche of emails, have kept me off-line with Canadiuns. That doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about blogging; I can't tell you how good it feels to get back behind the keyboard in support of the Great White North.

There's so much to write about. The past four weeks have seen a flurry of political activity in Canada, notably the complete avoidance of the collapse of the Conservative minority government. The soap opera around it has been just as fascinating -- the terrible Liberal Party playbook and revelation that Ignatieff is anything but Prime Minister in waiting, the disgustingly blatant politics of NDP leader Jack Layton, the parachuting of Elizabeth May into a riding almost as far away from her home in Cape Breton as the chances of winning her seat... the list goes on.

It has crossed my mind however, that I sound like a broken record -- over and over again with the critiques and over and over again with what might be perceived as sour grapes. To be honest, calling attention to the sorry state of our country is far more important than concerns that I sound like a broken record. We need progressive, intelligent, informed change, and we need it now. This sometimes requires relentless hammering.

The talk around my family's Thanksgiving table made that obvious. The discussion turned to the way in which technology, specifically 'e-books' have created an amazing opportunity to reduce the amount of paper necessary to publish traditional books. Someone even mentioned that e-books may supplant libraries in the future, alluding to an Internet and e-reader approach.

While transitioning quickly to a society galvanized more strongly by technology is no doubt important, I had to also draw attention to the fact that the concept behind the creation of public libraries was to ensure access to knowledge was exactly that, 'public' and open to all. Until such time as access to the Internet across Canada becomes as ubiquitous as a public utility -- something my readers know I have advocated for strongly -- it will be difficult to transition away from past models of knowledge access and knowledge dissemination. Another logical impediment is owning a computer or e-reader, which is affordable (or unaffordable) in relative terms.

The transition we need in order to be competitive and relevant beyond simply selling our oil and timber commodities must be swift, but it has to be nuanced and multifaceted because, building a just society requires as inclusive an approach as possible. That's the driving idea behind universal healthcare; it is as much an issue of public health as it is an issue of access. Preventive medicine for all Canadians, rich and poor alike, often pays back dividends not easily measured or understood, but which reinforce a collective mentality in our society -- we're all in this together. In the same vein, the responsibility rests with each of us to safeguard our system from dismantling or dilution, making informed improvements free of political influence and that preserve universality and fairness, while ensuring relevance in a rapidly and constantly changing context.

This surely must have been the prevailing thought in the late 1960s and 1970s when our Government provided young, cutting-edge Canadian talent with unfettered support to achieve great things for the benefit of all citizens. On a recent visit to Vancouver, MD walked me around the exterior of the Arthur Erickson-designed Provincial Law Courts, with its waterfall terraces and cantilevered walkways. The brilliance and whimsy of its design was evident immediately, and the discussion quickly turned to whether such a design would have even made the grade in the current fiscal accountability, value-for-money, era. "No," we both agreed, in the same way the modular, pre-fabricated public housing works in Montreal (Habitat '67) -- commissioned as part of Expo '67 and designed by an amateur at the time, Moshe Safdie -- would never have seen the light of day.

Brilliance needs a patron. In the United States, visionaries like Frank Lloyd Wright or Eero Saarinen were nurtured by private/industrialist capital and, for that reason, their genius was allowed to blossom. Canada is a different place, our relatively small society and modest personal incomes make for a society less apt to spending imprudently or superfluously -- perhaps that's the reason we don't have our own Kentuck Knob or Falling Water. Today, only through the kindness of individuals and an $18 entrance fee, can one tour Falling Water. Work commissioned by and for the Government is, by its very nature, owned by the people for all to enjoy.

Talent begets talent. Imagination begets imagination. Wise investment in today's young Canadians is not unlike planting seeds for a future harvest -- it is imperative for our well-being, for our souls and ultimately, to strengthen Canadian culture.