By Heino Molls
I often joke that there are few consolations to getting old but I am serious when I say that one of them is that at the age I am now, I can look back on many years and many elections. I truly believe that we are about to have one of the most important elections that I can ever recall, both in Canada and the United States.
The first election I can remember really being aware of was 50 years ago. Ironically it was called by a minority Conservative government, just as today.
Back in 1958 the Canadian people returned the Conservative minority government of John Diefenbaker into the largest majority in history. I recall that I thought that Mr. Diefenbaker was a great man. He rallied the British Commonwealth against the apartheid policies of South Africa.
He rectified a shameful wrong in our country as he championed the right of aboriginal “Status Indians” in Canada to have equal rights in our country. Up to 1960 they had been denied the right to vote from the time of confederation. “Dief the Chief” corrected that shame. These things made him a good leader to me at the time. A great man for the common people in Canada, who spoke well of him in their homes and over backyard fences throughout the country.
As great as he was, history does not reflect him to be much of a ‘visionary’, however. He dismantled the plans for Canada to design and build a great jet plane called the Avro Arrow. He has never been forgiven for this. He did not manage Canada’s position during the Cuban missile Crisis of 1962 very well. In fact, some would say he did not act at all in any way during times of crisis in the economy, either. People began calling our money “diefen-dollars”. His leadership credentials slipped considerably over time. People said he did not have vision for the country.
It occurs to me how rare it is to have a leader with great vision. Especially in recent times. As I reflect over these many years, I realize how incredibly important it is to find and elect such a leader today.
As we head for the polls, I have been thinking a great deal about the great leaders of the world in years past and what commonality they had, if any at all.
The great leaders of the world outside of Canada in my time included Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy. There were others but these stand out to me. Great leaders in Canada in my time included Pierre Trudeau, Tommy Douglas and Robert Stanfield.
None of these leaders were women, which reflects how much women have historically been repressed from power. The second thing that occurs to me is that of all these great leaders, only one of them actually held the formal position of the head of their country.
What they all had in common, to me, was that they each held high principals and true vision.
Each one was prepared to go through great adversity to achieve their vision. Some, in fact most of them, did not actually achieve their vision, but all of them are historically considered great men because they tried and never gave up trying – always with dignity and always without any trace of force or violent behaviour to achieve their vision.
It seems to me that this is what we need to look for in the party we elect on October 14. A leader who is a visionary even more than a leader. Someone who is willing to stick their neck out for principal. Someone who will try to achieve great things. Someone who will go through adversity, and even ridicule, to achieve what they believe is good for the common people and this country.
Someone who will say to Canadians that while there may be some sacrifice in the years ahead, we will achieve a great vision for this country. I hope we can elect such a person. I hope that they can do that in America as well.
Please think about the vision this country needs on October 14 and then cast your ballot for the party that you believe has a leader who can best achieve it.
Cherish your freedom to exercise this right.
Heino Molls is publisher of REM. Email [email protected].
