Envisioning Canada's Future: Strong Individuals for a Strong Society

 

 

 

With growing volatility in the workplace forcing people to undertake multiple careers over the course of their working lives, Morneau says: "We need to enable people to be successful but I think that's possible but only if we invest in education and training and the kind of infrastructure that enables people to be successful."

 

 

In Canadian politics, we've gotten used to looking for strong leaders to maintain stable societies through a stern-father approach.  You'd think that, given his personal brand and name recognition, Trudeau would be leaning more heavily on his super-star appeal.

 

But governing isn't about being a superstar - it's about leading and more specifically, leading from the front.  This isn't what Harper does; he micro-manages from the back.  Mulcair is front-and-centre, but he likes being there enough that his team isn't sharing his spotlight - and Canadians aren't getting to know them.  Leaders don't demand that their front lines cow town to middle managers - they empower everyone from top to bottom to own and be part of realizing their vision.

 

We've also gotten away from the notion of "teach a person to fish" and seeing infrastructure as more than a make-work project.  In fact, we've gotten away from the notion of community; Canada is now seen as a nation full of independent consumers and special interest groups instead of a whole that's greater than the sum of its parts.

 

Team Trudeau has a long way to in terms of earning trust, properly identifying our collective problems and co-designing shared solutions to carry us forward.  They've also got some internal cultural challenges that are inevitable when you have people weaned on the old system trying to envision a new one.

 

But they're getting there.

 

 

Having said that, if I hear anyone in their ranks say "strong individuals for a strong society," I'm sending KT an invoice.