Vol. 55, No. 6 — June 1974 —
A Canadian Renaissance
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Born: July 1st, 1867, Canada: daughter
of Great Britain and France.
In Ottawa, the announcement was greeted by the firing of
a 101-gun salute while all the church bells pealed; High Mass
was sung in the cathedral at Trois-Rivières; in Saint
John, 21 guns were fired as a salute in honour of the event.
Most Canadians walked that day under banners inscribed: "Success
to the Confederacy" or "Bienvenue à la nouvelle puissance".
There is something delectable about feeling grownup, and
at 107 years of age that is the spirit in which Canada celebrates
her birthday as a nation.
The pendulum has swung from the isolation and privation
of pioneer days through revolutionary changes in our environment
until today our level of living is among the highest in the
world. In fact, there is worry expressed about our over-nourishment
and our physical inactivity. Seldom before, if ever, have
young people been so well fed, so well-read, and so bright-minded
when starting to live their own lives.
Canada's experience up to now has not been drab. It was
exciting in its happening and diversified enough to suit the
most exacting story-teller. All her history is woven into
the fabric of the dress she wears today.
Many nations were represented among the pioneers from European
countries who intruded upon the virgin geography of this continent,
and today Canada speaks in many tongues, goes to many churches,
and opens her doors to people of many lands.
The swaddling clothes period of Canada's growth was not
an easy one. Besides the hardships of climate and loneliness
and making a living there were hostile clans, belligerent
neighbours, and the uncertainty of life under rulers who were
three thousand miles away across an ocean traversed slowly
by sailing vessels: rulers who knew little about conditions
in their colonies.
By 1867 it had become evident to the people who made up
the family that something had to be done, and they turned
toward union. Chief among their political purposes was to
establish a new nation to meet the changed conditions of British
policy and to unite the scattered provinces and colonies against
possible aggression from the south. Economically, the purpose
was to spread dependence over many industries instead of only
a few, and thus lessen exposure to the effects of the economic
policies then being pursued by both Great Britain and the
United States. Through mutual concession it was hoped to preserve
cultural and local loyalties and reconcile them with political
strength and solidarity.
Making one political body out of two is among the most difficult
of human tasks. It took centuries to unite England and Scotland;
more centuries to form Italy or Germany. On this North American
continent two political miracles have occurred: thirteen States
peacefully united to form the United States of America, and
three provinces with people of two cultures equally peacefully
formed the Dominion of Canada.
The people of Canada are not a faceless legion. Aristotle
defined man as a rational animal; on another occasion he described
man as a political animal. Thus the philosopher pointed up
two important aspects of human nature: the individuality and
the sociality of man.
Canada has succeeded well in keeping in balance the claims
that derive from these two aspects. It has developed co-operation
for the public good while retaining the principle of personhood.
It seeks to give every person the chance to sense his relevance
in the nation, and the opportunity to live significantly.
Freedom and equality
Freedom is a widely-held desire of humanity. We see evidence
of this expressed everywhere through bills of rights and acts
of parliament laying down basic rights in freedom of expression,
religion, thought, the press, and assembly. People are really
free when the conditions that surround them permit them to
make use of their capabilities as individuals - materially,
intellectually and spiritually.
It is necessary for governments and people to keep the balance
between order and liberty.
Personal freedom needs to be limited by the well-established
principle of democracy: the greatest good of the greatest
number. Political freedom consists in being able to choose
between two or more courses of action. Canada has no political
shackles on freedom of opinion or the freedom to express ideas.
Liberty and equality are at times uneasy bedfellows. The
demand for equality must take account of the fact that even
in a democracy there are many things that are unequal.
One of the most difficult problems of government is the
equal treatment of unequals. All men, and all women, are not
created identical in physical qualities or mental qualities,
but the democratic state tries to give them equal opportunity
and equal hope. In this effort the ancient feeling of brotherhood
is far and away superior to the current demand for equality.
It carries obligations unknown to equality. It calls for respect
and protection.
There is a sort of "equality" in which no man is better
than his neighbour, in which superiority is denied, excellence
is derided, and leadership is suspect. This distorted idea
of equality springs from the thought that by honouring another
person's worth a person is lowering his own. Actually, when
we commend good thoughts or actions we are making them in
some measure our own.
Canada offers as freely as any other country, a sane, balanced
way of life in which men and women can develop their individual
gifts.
Equal opportunity, however, will not mean anything except
to people of ability who have a will to action, length of
view and the necessary knowledge. A person who declares a
desire to write, but wants to start "creative" writing without
an apprenticeship; a person who starts to study to improve
his working position and quits in favour of other attractions:
these cannot complain legitimately that they are deprived
of opportunity.
A nation of character
Socrates warned his hearers that the attempt to sketch an
ideal state was undertaken only for experimental purposes,
and that perhaps the most that can be hoped for is that existing
states may come near in quality to this ideal. Canada is attempting,
not to build a visionary Utopia, but to give itself character
as a nation.
Character is not something inherited. It is won by hard
work, integrity, unity of purpose, faith, great-mindedness,
moderation, unselfishness, intelligence, benevolence and self-reliance.
These are all qualities that appear desirable in individuals
and that are spoken well of by all the great religions. When
they become universal in the people of a nation, that nation
will have character.
An ideal is needed, a vision of the best of the best. What
is ideal is the highest product of the imagination, picturing
conditions which fulfil all the best thoughts and desires
of the individual or the nation.
According to Reuben P. Halleck, author of Psychology
and Psychic Culture, an ideal might embody the energy
of Napoleon, the integrity and patriotism of Washington, the
iron will of Cromwell, the ambition of Newton or Franklin
to discover new natural laws, the inventive genius of Watt,
Morse or Edison, the sympathy with humanity of a Grenfell
or Léger, the determination of blind Milton to leave
behind something worthy of himself which posterity would not
willingly let die.
Even though contemplating an ideal may not produce perfection,
it produces improvement. Tolstoy declared: "It is untrue that
an ideal of infinite perfection cannot be a guide in life;
and that I must either throw it away or must lower it to the
level at which it suits my weakness to rest."
Law and justice
Children in a nation that is seeking to be great and good
should not be brought up with an intimate knowledge of nuclear
power and in complete ignorance of the ethical principles
that are part of the nation's culture. The way of right dealing
and justice should be taught as a matter of duty and followed
as a matter of honour.
Honour is an old-fashioned word encompassing duty, responsibility,
and respect for the eternal values. It is the spinal column
of democracy, supporting the structure and carrying the motor
nerves that convey action impulses to the muscles.
Laws are not enough, even if they are good laws well enforced.
What we need is not so much the prohibition of murder - which
most of us are not likely to commit - as some knowledge of
the positive virtues and practice in them. Goodness is not,
in a person or a nation, simply the absence of wrongdoing,
but a love of whatsoever things are true, pure, honest, just,
lovely, and of good report.
Solon, the great lawgiver of ancient Athens, remarked: The
city is best modelled where those that are not injured prosecute
and punish the unjust as zealously as do those that are injured.
Every agency of justice, from the Minister in Parliament
to the policeman on his beat, ought to desire to be considered
clement and not cruel. Nevertheless, he ought to take care
not to misuse this clemency. Mercy and lenience are asked
for guilty persons: justice is all that an innocent man requires.
If society pardons the offender too much, it does wrong to
the law-abiding citizen and it condones the doing of evil.
Obligations of democracy
There is authority for the principle that the united support
of common ideals by people who, though of various ancestry,
have a common allegiance, may hold the best guarantee and
promise of liberty and civilization. Individual points of
view there must be, but Canada should reaffirm on her 107th
birthday her determination that no thought of separate advantage,
no claim of special privilege, shall outweigh the overriding
common interest. The good of the whole is what matters.
One freedom not allowed to human beings is freedom from
responsibility. There are duties that must be performed to
preserve democratic freedom. People who desire a free and
effective government must think of themselves as its custodians.
In this duty they must not be indolent or careless.
Unselfish activities, spacious thoughts, and clear vision
are not to be expected of people who normally put their personal
comfort above the necessities of society. Some persons avoid
responsibility in civic and social affairs because of fear
of becoming "involved", or because of disinterest in anything
that does not minister directly to their own pleasure. The
reward for accepting civic responsibility is not necessarily
money or power or a public statue. Self-respect and the respect
of others are quite enough.
Many things that are right and desirable cannot be done
by legislation or by institutions. They will never be done
unless some individual is prepared to do them for no reward
except the satisfaction of being of service.
People need inspiration to participate in this selfless
service. Those who are self-absorbed have no vision of Canada's
needs or the development of their latent potentialities. The
phrase: "Why should I stick my neck out?" is the graceless
symbol of leaners and freeloaders.
Human welfare, for which in a general way governments were
created, has now become in a precise and specific way a main
object of government everywhere. In the developing industrial
societies many people are going to get hurt through no special
fault of their own. These are the people whom it is a duty
to help. But a welfare state, as Lord Beaverbrook pointed
out, "must be founded on hard work, not on the belief that
the government's duty is to act as a wet nurse to the sluggards
and parasites who contribute as little as possible in return."
Conserving resources
Canada's resources are of international significance. Maurice
Strong, a Canadian who is executive director of the United
Nations environment programme, warned in an address in Ottawa
in February that Canada has a special responsibility in managing
its resources and its environment.
We live in a planetary society, in the midst of nations
which are passionately realistic. We have to think of our
resource development not only from our own viewpoint but through
the eyes of others.
Mr. Churchill and Mr. Roosevelt drew attention to this when
they devised that paragraph of the Atlantic Charter which
reads: "to further the enjoyment by all states, great or small,
victor or vanquished, of access, on equal terms, to the trade
and to the raw materials of the world which are needed for
their economic prosperity."
Into the future
As Canada celebrates her 107th birthday as a nation, bedecked
with laurel leaves for achievement and rosemary for remembrance,
she must have in mind that 1974 will take its place in the
procession of the years. As on the day of birth everything
lies in the future, so on a birthday anniversary the future
is the vital thought.
Life will become drab and meaningless for the citizens if
their government has not set up certain attainable goals beyond
the day-to-day tasks. It must not become absorbed in dealing
with the things of immediate political and economic moment
and lose sight of the future that lies beyond a government's
term of office. The rainbow's end is a good deal farther away
than this year's balanced budget or next year's wheat crop.
In her plans for the future Canada should take an approach
that is hopeful and positive. It is her obligation to leave
the human culture a little better than it was in 1867. Very
few people escape the desire to pass on something of themselves
to their children and others. Canada's opportunity is great
if she uses the instruments that have been put into her hands:
to enlighten people, to develop leaders, to extend help to
those who need it, and to spread the spirit of what is right
throughout the world.
This is a time to get above the turmoil and the confines
of one's own life to see how things stand, and to get a view
of things that are distant toward which one should aim. It
is time to bring our utopian hopes and our everyday world
into contact.
We need the faith of the Fathers of Confederation. They
had no other idea than that this child of their design would
fit, perhaps not at once, but eventually, into the space in
the universe that was waiting for her.
Canada is old enough now to turn from dwelling upon the
catalogue of the good things with which she was endowed and
start to develop her original thought. This is her task: to
adjust to the problems of a modern industrial society within
the framework of a rigid constitution where jurisdiction is
divided. She needs a strong purpose to determine her course
and a strong arm for building.
On having standards
People who talk about principles and ideals are sometimes
told to come down from that lofty sphere to the firm ground
of practical work. "Face the urgent problems of material interests,"
we are told by materialists.
Most people sense that there are other important needs in
life besides making a living. We shall live happier lives
if we make a rendezvous with excellence in all the activities
that go to make up human existence. The most poignant failure
is not to be true to the best that one knows.
This may be one of the epochs in which man becomes conscious
of something about himself which is outside the day-to-day
struggle for existence and the night-to-night struggle with
fear, said Kenneth Clark in Civilisation (British Broadcasting
Corporation, London, 1969). "He has felt the need to develop
these qualities of thought and feeling: reason, justice, physical
beauty, all of them in equilibrium."
Men and women and nations can become greater than they are
by applying themselves to the production of work that has
quality. It is disastrous when a nation or a person gives
up thinking of excellence and settles for what is expedient.
That is one of the dangers faced by an affluent society. Contentment
leads to stagnation.
Civilization is fragile
The coat of civilization, which is defined as cultural and
intellectual refinement, is precariously thin.
Civilization is made up of all sorts of things, from world
peace to being nice to people. Ruskin hoped that by means
of art, religion and literature all people might become civilized,
but there are still many people who think of civilization
in "go-getter" terms: personal aggrandizement, inventiveness,
national expansion.
Clark defines it differently. "I believe that order is better
than chaos, creation better than destruction. I prefer gentleness
to violence, forgiveness to vendetta. On the whole I think
that knowledge is preferable to ignorance, and I am sure that
human sympathy is more valuable than ideology. I believe in
courtesy, the ritual by which we avoid hurting other people's
feelings by satisfying our own ego."
Canadians will agree with this definition. It is the way
they would like to live in Canada, and the way they would
like Canada to live in the world.
How are Canadians to make the most of their opportunity
to bring about this sort of life? They must start with themselves.
They cannot succeed, or indeed get very far, unless they believe
whole-heartedly in their objective. Then they need to reconstruct
the small face-to-face community and revitalize neighbourhood
living. There is a mistaken idea that a lot of money is all
that is needed to spruce up a neighbourhood, but the truth
is that personal service in time and effort is the only really
effective agent, and it is the most rewarding. As to money,
there is a town in Kentucky that raised the money with which
it remodelled its town hall by cake sales and similar community
projects.
Co-operation is a necessity of life. A strong man, living,
striving, toiling for himself and by himself alone, is a miserable
spectacle, divorced from humanity. A strong nation, living
for itself by itself is a tragedy.
Individuals have today greater active participation in government,
and the sole purpose of government is the public good. In
a rational society, people in government have a higher aim
than to address great audiences, to present themselves as
public benefactors or saviours, and to seek to become statesmen
by waving the national flag.
Canada's leaders should be men and women who have cultivated
their natural endowments to the highest degree. The person
cut out for parliamentary service does not think small. Like
Plato's philosopher-king, he adheres to the pattern of justice,
beauty, and truth; he cultivates knowledge; he contemplates
the future as well as the present. One great figure like that
presents an example that a lot of other persons will follow.
Seek a renaissance
This is a suitable occasion for Canada to consider the benefit
of creating a new renaissance, a renewal of life and vigour,
a rebirth.
The Renaissance Man is defined by the dictionary as: "a
person of broad intellectual and cultural interests, encompassing
the full spectrum of available knowledge."
Western civilization has been a series of rebirths, and
there is no compelling reason why Canada cannot have a big
part to play in generating one. Dr. Halbert L. Dunn asks the
question in Renaissance of Responsibility: "Can a renaissance
begin that will transform man and society? Nothing short of
a renaissance is capable of bringing about such a miracle.
A renaissance requires all types of leadership and a great
variety of organizations."
Canada can, in her internal affairs, create a lively pattern
that will move men and women to admire and attempt great things.
Such a movement requires outstanding and vigorous leadership.
Petrarch, the earliest of the humanists, whose life marks
the dawn of the Renaissance in Italy, awakened the interest
of his countrymen in the ancient Greek and Roman world, encouraged
education and culture, and sought to reconcile the pagan and
Christian ideals.
In the archives of Canada, of every province and of every
city, there are paper plans that are the ghosts of many bright
hopes and many creative ideas. They were laid to rest by official
indifference, public apathy, reluctance to spend money on
"non-productive" things.
This 107th anniversary would be a good time to turn over
the papers again. In an age of transplants they might be injected
with new life.
It is not the part of wisdom, and it is not statesmanlike,
to think that ideal life in Canada can be realized at once.
There are some unsettled disputes and open questions. Like
good stockholders - and we are all stockholders in the Canadian
enterprise - we can analyse our situation on this stock-taking
occasion. When we bring out the positive facts about present-day
Canada the negatives will look less serious.
Then we can proceed to make a plan for the future years
of a country that seeks to be numbered, not with nations that
have shaken the world, but with those that have left it more
solid than they found it.
Published by RBC Financial Group. All editions from the RBC
Letter collection are available on our web site at www.rbc.com/responsibility/letter.
Our e-mail address is: rbcletter@rbc.com.
Publié aussi en francais.
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