Mr McGuinty, We Should Talk!

 

 

 

McGuinty signed on to the lobbyist registry in late August to act on behalf of Kitchener-based Desire2Learn, which develops educational software.

 

 

I have zero concerns about the notion of a former Premier acting as a lobbyist.  The truth is, most lobbyists are former politicians, or political staff, or political organizers.  Government speaks a unique language and has a closed culture - we need people familiar with that space to serve as bridges between the public, not-for-profit and grassroots sectors and policy makers.

 

There are easier ways to make a lot of money and be a power-broker, if that was McGuinty's interest. 

 

It isn't.  If anything, his decision to support Desire2Learn is an indication that he's never wavered from the things he's always believed in.

 

Remember, this was the self-styled Education Premier; strengthening our education system was a priority he spent a lot of time and political capital on.  McGuinty was also all about the long-game; the whole purpose behind a Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal or a Ministry of Health Promotion was to start heading off some troublesome structural issues before it was too late.

McGuinty was also the kind of guy who loved tech and engagement (despite his social media ban, but nobody's perfect).  One of my favourite memories of the former Premier involves him sitting down at CCVS in Cornwall with my former boss, Jim Brownell, chatting candidly with students about music, iPods and how tech and InfoTech was offering a wealth of opportunities he wanted them to be well-positioned to seize.

 

That's what he believed when in office; it's what he believes in now.

 

Funny enough, it's the same thing a number of social innovators, community catalysts and virtuous schemers inside and outside government believe, too.

 

Andray Domise is developing a Youth Entrepreneurship Centre in Etobicoke intended to provide a safe space for youth to learn practical skills like sales, financial management, supply management, etc. with a focus on helping them turn their passions into careers.  Andray has a particular interest in coding and the emerging opportunities of Open Data.

 

Chloe-Marie Brown, Policy Advisor to Toronto Youth Council, has some ambitious projects on the go with a focus on improving mentorship opportunities for youth (particularly from Neighbourhood Improvement Areas), improving civic engagement and mapping out youth spaces and services for easier access.

 

Speaking of mapping - Caitlin Blundell has a really cool GIS project in the works with multiple applications; imagine youth being able to do infrastructure audits of their community by uploading photos and comments to a digital platform using Apps on their phones.

 

That's the kind of platform for engagement that folks like AJ Tibando (who McGuinty may remember as a former Liberal staffer) of SoJo and Abdullah Mayo of RaiseAnAim are also working on.

 

All this ties rather organically to the move by all levels of government to Open Data, making public information available for public consumption, possibly as a resource from which to build profitable products and services.  It's what amazing folk like Sameer Vasta at MaRS facilitates every day.  It's what Microsoft CSR Make Web Not War is looking to support in their work - which is why they backed Richard Pietro's Civic Engagement tour, #OGT14.

 

This is before you get to the individual civil servants, design thinkers and community consultation folk also looking to empower youth to be their own best advocates.

 

There are so many cool people with great ideas and varied skill sets, all working in the same space - but they aren't Dalton McGuinty. 

 

I bet they'd love to work with him, though.  I'd be happy to make the connections.

 

Just think of the positive impact we could have if we're all moving forward together.

 

Not Exactly What I Meant by Value Add

For the candidates these ads promote, they are better than campaign-produced ads in important ways.

They don't count against the tight spending limit of $1.3 million per candidate.  They allow supporters to effectively circumvent the $2,500 cap for campaign donations by contributing far more in services.  And, crucially, they allow the candidates to simultaneously benefit from the attacks while retaining the ability to plausibly deny they have gone negative.

Not exactly what I had in mind when I wrote this bit about value-added user generated content, but you know what? I'm fine with this.  That's the whole point of an open society - not everyone is going to produce stuff that matches your tastes.  

The trick for leaders is to encourage that which, challenging or no, promotes debate, conversation, connectivity and solutions.  For things that don't support their value sets, it's perfectly fine to say something like "I think I get what they were trying to do, but I'm positive they could find creative ways to get the message across without an attack on someone's character."

This is especially important where a leader's opponent is in the cross-hairs.  Why?  Because leaders lead, and leadership is about leaving no one - even your opponents - behind.

Paris Meilleur ‏@parismeilleur  1h

Dalton's advice to Millennial leaders: 1. Leadership is about service - it's not about you, it's about them.

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Paris Meilleur ‏@parismeilleur  1h

Dalton's advice to Millennial leaders: 2. Leaders are incomplete. Take time to reflect. Struggle to be wise.

Paris Meilleur ‏@parismeilleur  1h

Dalton's advice to Millennial leaders: 3. Leaders take the high road and in so doing, leaders represent us at our best.

Paris Meilleur ‏@parismeilleur  1h

Dalton's advice for Millennial leaders: 4. Leaders put their character ahead of their reputation. Character is what you truly are.

Paris Meilleur ‏@parismeilleur  1h

And final piece of Dalton's advice to Millennials: 5. If you're going to lead, you must be an idealist. You must never give into cynicism.

A Little Opposition Is A Healthy Thing

"I was informed earlier this afternoon that PC HQ prefers followers to leaders & that I am no longer the PC candidate in Essex," Brister tweeted.

What did he expect by openly challenging the leader - when he's not even elected?

I know a story that kinda goes like this, but with a different ending.  

It was the 2003 election, one the Tories were expected to win.  The Liberal Leader, Dalton McGuinty, was wearing the "still not up to the job" brand after a rocky start to his leadership.  McGuinty's ability to gain traction in rural Ontario was far from certain - the Liberals were largely considered to be an urban-centric Party.  

You'd think his core team would have been nervous nellies, knowing full well this was their Leader's last kick at the can.  By rights, they should have felt a compulsion to stamp out any internal opposition especially from a mere candidate so as not to look weak to the masses.

McGuinty did have a candidate that took issue with a Party position and did so publicly.  Like Brister, this candidate got some stern advice from the Party.  Where the story differs, however, is that the Liberal candidate was never told he had to recant or be dropped.

He went on to handily win the riding of Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry and held it until he retired in 2011.  Even now in his political retirement, people still turn to him as their representative.

That candidate, of course, was Jim Brownell.  

Brownell went on to challenge Party wisdom again and again over the years.  With time and experience McGuinty, his Ministers and the OLP on the whole learned that when Jim had an opinion it was worth listening to; he had a fair bit of wisdom of his own to share.

The collaboration of Jim Brownell and the Ontario Liberal Party went on to do many great things, including the Eastern Ontario Economic Development Fund, closure on Cornwall's Project Truth scandal, new hospitals, downtown loan forgiveness and tourist promotion.  Brownell campaigned on his ability to put Eastern Ontario back on the map - he did, to the OLP's benefit.

By learning to listen to and show respect for a rural candidate, the McGuinty Liberals were demonstrating their commitment to learning from and listening to rural Ontario.  It was something the good folk of SD&G certainly took notice of.

More than being a fine Parliamentarian and a partisan asset, though, Jim brought a lineage of rural courtesy and comradeship with him to Queen's Park.  He was well-respected by Members of all Parties and absolutely adored by staff.  His genuine warmth and compassion led to his becoming an unofficial morale officer for the OLP which again benefited.

Never once did Jim ever support something he didn't believe in.  Never once did he compromise his beliefs.  Instead, he learned to work with the Party as the Party learned to work with him.  Which is how government is supposed to work.

All of this says a lot about Jim.  It says a lot about McGuinty and the people he surrounded himself with, too.

Just as the dismissal of Dave Brister has something to say about Tim Hudak and his team.

Could Dave Brister have become Tim Hudak's version of Jim Brownell, gaining trust externally, building morale internally and helping to usher in more than a decade of Party wins?

I guess we'll never know, will we?  

Do The Right Thing: Political Staff At Their Best

"It is critical that folks wake up and see their provincial government acting in accordance to their own values and views."

 

   - Laura Miller

 

 

The desired effect of this CBC article is to try and pull a gotcha headline out of a disaster that has negatively impacted the lives of many up in Elliot Lake.  The subtext that people will latch on to, as they always do, is "gasp! Political staff were weighing consequences of actions and worrying about messaging when lives were on the line!  The horror!"

 

That's how news, or at least news stories work - stir up controversy and get tongues wagging.  The Opposition will no doubt seize on this as an opportunity to portray Dalton McGuinty and his inner team as, what, political or something.

 

Sure, that's good headlines, but it's missing the point.  What this story really represents is an inside look at how the right decisions get made by people who care.

 

Think it through - the Premier and his team, based on the assessment of experts, were looking to respond to a crisis in an appropriate manner.  The experts had cause; the mall was a death trap to any who might try to enter.  Did the involved staff stop there and start finding ways to justify inaction and find some way to attack Opposition Parties to avoid responsibility or change the channel? 

Nope. 

First thing they did was listen, not just to the experts but the people and the press - and even to the local MPP, who is an Opposition Member.  It's not a bad thing to be concerned about the reaction of the people.  Parliament is supposed to be their voice, after all; government is supposed to serve in their best interests.  To the people, hope and care for the wounded came first.  There were people willing to risk their lives, soldier-like, to ensure that nobody was left behind.

 

Colin Powell, an expert on leadership if ever there was one, tells us "Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard."  That's what these Liberal staff did; that's the advice they gave to the Premier and the Premier responded to.  The experts aren't leaders - they are advisers.  When it comes to making tough calls, there are more factors than just cold hard facts to consider; there's the social-emotional piece, which cannot be underestimated.  These staff, this Premier and local MPP Mike Mantha understood that leadership is about hope; so long as hope remains, whatever the risks, there is room for action.

 

They made a tough decision - put the lives of others at risk to save people who may not even still be alive.  It was the right one.  Then, they had to communicate it.  This led to another series of reactions to be proud of.  Laura Miller focused on the values of the people - not "get the fucking Indians out of the park" or communicating that "a political truth is different", but what mattered to the people who put the McGuinty government in office.  Scratch that - people who put an Opposition MPP in office.  That didn't matter to the Premier's team - the will of the people, regardless of who they've awarded politically, came first.  There's nothing dodgy about communication - it, too, is an essential component of leadership.  Leaders inform, inspire and guide, which is what happened here.  The people's will prevailed, despite the best technical advice of the experts.  The Premier, supported by an outstanding, committed staff, delivered.

 

Yes, this is a gritty look inside how political decisions are made and yes, a cynic can easily find ways to portray this chain as a negative.  Put the partisan and pundit interests aside, though, this is a fantastic example of how political decisions can and should work.  The experts were listened to and considered.  The Opposition was listened to and respectfully kept in the loop.  The people were listened to and their values shaped the decision made.  I am proud to know many of the staffers who were involved - people of integrity first, political savvy second who err on the side of doing what is right, not what is politically convenient.  These folk embody the concept that ethics matter.

 

Last thing - you can judge a leader by the company they keep.  The quality and commitment to values of these backroom staff who are paid to serve their bosses, not the people, speaks to the ethics of the man they serve.  They are of the highest quality, indeed. 

 

Shocking: I agree with John Snobelen

 

Canadians don’t respond well to politicians who are enamored of their own importance. Like him or not, McGuinty has never been guilty of appearing more important than his job.

 

 - Snobelen

 

For all the stuff he does publicly that people either admire or despise, McGuinty is constantly doing the little things that inspire.

 

 - Me

 

Leaders don't dominate the spotlight - they lead.  Politics used to be considered a higher calling, something the individual undertook to contribute to something larger than themselves - not to enlarge themselves.

 

It can be that way again.

Dalton McGuinty

Maybe I'm biased, but I like Dalton McGuinty.  He has always been kind and supportive to my family.  The Premier has an amazing knack of doing the little things that inspire loyalty - recognizing a staffer's accomplishments, attending an event, just popping by to visit.  More than once during my tour at Queen's Park I would be in an office, visiting staff or Members over something when McGuinty would just walk in to see how people were doing.  It was never about checking up; it was always a genuine expression of compassion.

Premier McGuinty was essential to Jim Brownell's achieving his goal of putting Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry back on the political map.  There were all the funding for hospital and school projects, infrastructure and programd like the EODP, but above and beyond that, his commitment to the community never wavered.  Not during the challenges of the Cornwall Inquiry.  Not when it would have been easy to write the riding off after the series of plant closures.  McGuinty was there, every step of the way.

I will never forget the Premier's speech at the funeral of Bruce Crozier, a family man much loved by the Liberal Team.  Bruce had left politics to spend time with his grandchildren, an opportunity he never got.  McGuinty, a family man, obviously felt just as strongly the weight of politics on his family as Bruce did.  You've never seen a man show such strength, such recognition of responsibility as McGuinty on that day.

Above and beyond all this, the man affectionatley known as McG was an exemplary boss.  I never worked directly for him, but knew many of his team.  Everyone spoke highly of "the boss," always.  The man was always respectful to his staff; he trusted them to do their jobs.  I have a soft spot for Tracey Sobers, in particular, but there have been so many great folk who have gained from being in his employ.

The key trait that stands out for me - Premier Dalton McGuinty is an unabashed optimist.  I don't know where he gets the strength to keep the positive going - I think he has an intuitive understanding of positive psychology.  Whatever his trick, the Premier never lost sight of his purpose - to lead the province forward - or his challenge, to aspire Ontarians to follow him into the unknown.

My favourite quote on leadership:

“People out there can despair on their own. They put us in a position of leadership so that we will bring them hope.”

That's Dalton McGuinty's legacy, to date.  But there are many pages that can still be written.

Provide Alternatives to Crime

“You do have to provide programs to keep kids away from crime,” he said. “There are multiple fronts to take action on.”

Good on Stephen Harper.  Like political minds tend to circle the wagons around issues, but this is a concern that, like mental health, is bigger than partisanship.

There are multiple fronts that need to be pursued.  Identity is one; when you feel accountable to something larger than yourself, you tend to self-regulate a bit more.  Education is another; youth need training that meets their learning styles, but also teaches them to be flexible.  At any rate, it's hard to learn when you're worried about getting shot. 

The other side to keeping kids away from crime, though, isn't just providing alternatives - it's about steering them towards success.  This is within the realm of the possible; you really can teach resiliency and practical social skills like financial literacy, networking, social emotional learning, critical thinking, planning, etc.  Not everyone will be a whiz, but with the right level of exposure and encouragement, everyone can find a niche that works for them while allowing them to be contributing parts of society.

I keep turning back to martial arts training I've received over the years.  Failure wasn't an option because failure meant quitting on the part of the student, the teacher, the family and the community (school).  Falling was inevitable, but as we all know, the reason we fall is to learn how to pick ourselves back up.  The best teachers I have ever had were the ones that were relentless, patient and consistent, making praise something to be earned rather than expected and always pushing me to crystallize my skill a little bit more.  Those lucky of us to have had teachers or mentors like that over the years love them for teaching us that excellence is a pursuit, not a benchmark.

The fundamentals of this style of training can be applied in our schools.  It starts with empowerment, flows through achievement, and keeps on giving with success and resiliency.

It's within the realm of the possible - we just need to commit ourselves fully.

 

Leadership: Do the Right Thing

The paradox, I remarked to my campaign team at the time, is this: If you don't go to the site of a disaster, you'll get hammered for staying away and being insensitive. And if you travel to the site of a disaster, you'll get hammered for coming for a photo op and therefore being insensitive. You can't win, in other words.

Whether we like it or not, disasters are social affairs.  The people directly impacted feel the full brunt of an earthquake, a tornado, or a man-made disaster.  Lives are lost, livlihoods are destroyed, people are shaken to their very core.  In the face of disaster, one is justified in wondering how any individual can hope to carry the burden of loss moving forward. 

The people directly impacted face the worst, but the rest of us are reminded that we are just as vulnerable.  When someone gets shot in a public setting, we realize it could easily have been us.  When a mall roof collapses, we think, "my kids shop there."  The illness of another reminds us that we are all mortal.

In times of tragedy, whether ours or someone else's, we all feel a more vulnerable.  We tend to feel more giving, too - it's a genetic thing.  But how?  To who?  For those who have fallen, who amongst us will be there to extend a hand of support?

That's where leaders come in.  True leaders bring people together, reminds us we are not alone and helps us rise up, together.  No man is an island - true leaders bridge the gap. 

In our wired world, it can be hard to do the right thing without thinking of potential self-promotional opportunities.  Every negative or questionable thing leaders do gets dissected and broadcast on the big stage; it's hard to resist the temptation to cast light on the good stuff one does.  In fact, you might say it takes a certain degree of selflessness to do the right thing solely because it is the right thing.

Which brings me to the Highway of Heroes.  Does anyone remember the big, splashy event and after-shock releases that came with the announcement that Premier McGuinty was declaring a section of the 401 in honour of deceased Canadian veterans?  I'd be surprised if you did - there weren't any.

Despite the media-gains that could potentially have come from such an act, Premier McGuinty simply did it because it was the right thing to do.  While he doesn't always get this right, I'd have to say that Dalton McGuinty is the most consistent leader we have in terms of doing the right thing for no reason either than it's the right thing to do.

For all the stuff he does publicly that people either admire or despise, McGuinty is constantly doing the little things that inspire.  If you look on any social media outlet, you'll see the odd mention or picture of him pop up in places that aren't splashy, don't gain him any credit publicly, but are indicative of a man who truly cares.

Which brings me back to Elliot Lake.  In the face of such a horrific tragedy, the Premier had two responsibilities - to the people who suffered, to remind them they are not alone, but also to the people of Ontario, to make it clear that in times of crises, we are all in this together and that we will move forward, together.

In my opinion, McGuinty had to reach out to the families.  He had to speak to the community leaders and offer his support.  Those things didn't have to be publicized; we didn't necessarily need to know he had spoken to the families, only they needed to know their Premier cared.  When it comes to provincial solidarity and seeking responses to avoid future such tragedies, that does have to be public.  The whole province needs to know that someone is looking out for our long-term interests.

Sure, it's possible that best intentions will be misconstrued.  It's quite likely that opposing interests will hammer you in the worst manner possible, no matter what you do - though it doesn't have to be that way.

True leadership isn't about personal wins.  For a true leader, how they are viewed comes second; how their people fare always come first.  Which is why real leadership is a lonely business.

The Master doesn't talk, he acts.
When his work is done,
the people say, "Amazing:
we did it, all by ourselves!”

An Oft-Forgot Rule in Politics

It’s hard to say if the smears will ever see the light of day. But in the Internet age — when a lie can travel around the world 10 times before its target is even out of bed — anything is possible. It’s disgusting, of course. It’s dumb, it’s despicable. It’s also bad strategy. Only now emerging from the political burn unit in the “Vikileaks” affair, you’d think Liberal apparatchiks would have learned their lesson about trading in this sort of garbage.

A friend and experienced Liberal operator currently serving as a successful consultant once gave me this piece of advice: "in politics, you have to look out for #1.  Nobody else will and few would think twice about putting a knife in your back."

In a recent campaign, some young candidates went to great lengths to tar-and-feather their opponents, people of their own team, because they were pulling out all the stops to win.  In the end, the result was a much more mixed bag than expected and different teams were forced to merge and find ways to work together.  They're still at it.

Politics, as it generally stands now, is survival-of-the-fittest, which in practice always translates into the one willing to elbow out the competition.  Frequently, aggressiveness is twinned with talent, but that isn't always the case.  When aggressiveness becomes a fallback, there's no question that collaboration and innovation suffers.

I understand this as well as anyone.  Several friends have had their reputations dragged through the mud by their own teams because they stood by their beliefs or had personal challenges that no one was prepared to recognize, while eager political beavers tried to tell them brand should trump belief and personal well-being.  I've watched many a hard-working young be staffer cut loose and be forgotten about after an all-in dedication to the Party they believed in (and that's all Parties).  The wheels of the political bus are stained with the shattered faith of all those staff and politicians who have been thrown under it with nary a shrug from the drivers.  The disillusionment of those left behind stains the windows, obscuring the way forward. 

But it doesn't have to be this way.

I've also seen the best in politics - people who connect with a common vision of what their riding, province or country can look like and work together to achieve it.  Some of the best days of my life were spent working for an MPP, Jim Brownell, who unwaveringly put his constituency and the things he believed in first.  Jim may never have been leader of a Party, but damned if he wasn't one of the best-respected and most-accomplished MPPs at Queen's Park.  Plus, he served as a stone in the soup, bringing together staff and friends, building a family out of a place of work.  It was the Fellowship of the Duke - and it still resonates to this day.

More than once, I've been in the trenches among provincial Liberal staff and run into the Premier, out to meet with his troops.  Across Facebook and Twitter, there are more pictures of him with staff and staff's families than one would expect possible, given how busy he is.  I will never forget the time he took to meet with my grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, or how patient he was with an old man's jokes.  McGuinty never forgets that success stems from hard work - done as a team.

Recently, I've had the opportunity to watch Justin Trudeau and Gerrard Kennedy, both visionary thinkers, in action.  Both are smart, both are engaging, but above all both ascribe to a vision of Canada as a country that is more than the sum of its parts, a place that's internationally-recognized greatness is a product of its people.  All three of these leaders - McGuinty, Trudeau and Kennedy understand it isn't about them, it's about us.  The role of leaders is to empower their teams and empower the people to be at their best so we can continue to excel as a nation.

We do this by setting the example, as human beings first, as Canadians second, only lastly as partisans.  We are not in politics to serve ourselves or to gain glory through tribal affiliation - at least, we shouldn't be.  Parties and Parliaments aren't meant to be tribes, but rather forums.  A nation cannot be built around "the last man standing;" that's a race to the bottom.  It's not what we leave behind that should be our focus, but what we find along the way, what we can build together and what we leave behind for future Canadians - not just after four years, but for generations.

Warren Kinsella, through an unnamed Trudeau friend, says it best:

Said one, who emphasizes his friend has not decided to run yet, and isn’t sure if he will: “Liberals are always good at attacking each other. They should be trying to get to know Canada again — and stop with the smears.”

Any attack you make is now carved into Internet stone, and will be brought back to haunt you time and time again.  Conversely, every thing you do that is right will equally be immortalized for posterity.  That's how social media is changing the game.  But as the face of politics changes, there's one truth that does not waver:

 

If you want to go fast, go alone.

If you want to go far, go together.

Respect, Consequence and Success

"I'm accountable to people of faith, and people of no faith. I'm accountable to all parents, and I think the fact that I know we have something in common as parents -- we want to make sure our kids are accepted and respected for who they are."

   - Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

As the GSA saga has unfolded, it’s come as no surprise that the “respect adult authority” meme has been bandied about.  Thomas Cardinal Collins has suggested Premier McGuinty isn’t respecting the moral authority of the Catholic Board Trustees.  Not mentioned is that the Board doesn’t seem to be respecting the moral authority of their own teachers, who are in favour of empowering youth to choose a name for their association that suits their objectives, even if it uses the word “gay.

More than a couple commentators have thrown out “spare the rod, spoil the child” – suggesting that allowing our youth to define themselves and engage in conversations about how to understand and get along with their own individual peers is somehow watering down their moral fibre.

On public transit I hear teenage boys talking about respect and how they aren’t getting it or what they could/should do to get it.  Lots of song lyrics carry the same message.  Despite the negative impact on mental health, productivity and the bottom line of this approach being applied in workplaces, employer/employee respect is still perceived as a rock that rolls uphill rather than a reciprocative interaction.  Jason Kenney made a compelling argument that the Liberal Party of Canada was not respecting the New Canadian community and taking their votes for granted to devastating effect (for the LPC).

Here’s the thing: these folk who want “their” youth, “their” employees or “their” constituents to do as they’re told; the people who talk derisively to politicians or planners who disagree with them or refer to their staff as “dead wood” don’t really give a rat’s ass about respect; what they care about is dominance.  Respect, they see, is something received, not given.  These adults will yell, stomp their feet or ask aggressively to get their way – in essence, throwing tantrums, or bullying to quash challenges to their perceived authority.  Sometimes this leads to one partner tucking it’s tail between its legs and backing away.  More often than not, it results in escalation, serving nobody’s best interests.  Where do our kids learn such behaviour?  By watching us, is how.  That’s the example we set.

When you tell a child that they have to do as they are told, period, you are attempting to undermine their position, which will almost always be legitimate for them and might actually add value to a conversation.  I have a 4 year-old who challenges me all the time; he will seek clarification on a position, offer alternatives and will make some pretty decent arguments on his own behalf. 

My wife and I actively encourage this behaviour; it helps him develop critical thinking, to get into the head space of the person with whom he is speaking and teaches him resiliency.  This also makes him more proactive and collaborative – my knows how to stack the deck in his favour.  It’s both cool and a little bit disconcerting to watch a 4 year-old lay out multi-move strategies, but I always proud of him for it.  By showing my son respect, by giving him skin in the game and a stake in the end result, we’re preparing him for a life of success and contribution in the real world.

Employers may feel they have no responsibility other than wages to their employees – they are tools to be leveraged for labour, nothing more.  When you don’t respect your workers, though, you not only atrophy their capacity to make you money, you actively push them away.  Same thing with any team, any constituency – the whole is only as strong as the weakest.  In a social environment, you don’t get very far by culling “weak links” – instead, success comes from empowering each of your team to reach their full potential.

People like Thomas Cardinal Collins might be uncomfortable with the word “gay” – a latent  homophobia for a word that, when time was, meant happy.  They might feel that allowing students to use the term in Catholic schools (the Church’s schools, apparently, not the students) makes them uncomfortable and is therefore disrespectful  to their moral authority.  What they’re really doing is passing the message on that the Catholic Church doesn’t respect the views of youth, which is not a wise image to portray.

Poor Catholic Church Board has backed themselves into a corner.  They need a way out of their untenable position.  Here’s some advice they can turn to from within their own cannon that will make it easier for them to do the right thing:

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Mark 10: 13 – 16

He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18: 2 – 6

 Such is the nature of belief systems.  I would be happy to sit down with them, hear their arguments out and together, we could come us with a comprise that suits both our interests and allows us to move forward.

Because that's what true, mutual respect allows.

Premier McGuinty: The Best Consultants Are Yet to be Tapped

Nobody wants to accept the gloomy economic growth projections on which Mr. Drummond’s cost-cutting recommendations were predicated, but nobody knows exactly how to beat them.

There was more meaning to the Drummond Report than just doom and gloom.

Many of the brilliant, bold ideas that will take us through our current challenges won't come from top-dollar consultants.  They'll come from an increasingly engaged populace and an amazing group of emerging social entrepreneurs.  A heightened focus on breaking down service silos and reducing duplication, gaps and overlaps is essential.  This means culture change, always a challenge, but facilitated by people not of the system who still believe in its value.

If Premier McGuinty is really looking for new solutions to some of our most challenging problems, I would suggest he send out staff to attend Why Should I Care events (next one's on Monday May 28 at the Duke of York, starting 6:30pm) to hear some interesting conversations around what hasn't worked and what's being considered by officialdom, with lots of fresh ideas from the floor about how to make our system work.  Organizer Terri Chu always has interesting, sometimes provocative line-up of speakers that touch on their subjects in direct, powerful ways.

The Premier himself should bend the ear of Tonya Surman at the Centre for Social Innovation.  The team of social entrepreneurs who have collected there are pursuing a wealth of interesting new initiatives ranging from new training tools for employees, the use of microfluidics to make anything to do with liquid (ie, blood samples) easier, or simple stuff like turning store waste into energy and creating new aggregate models for services.  Then, there's the growing link between health care costs, mental health and productivity, say nothing of quality-of-life.  Looking at mental health proactively, rather than reactively, is going to change much of everything.

Tomorrow's solutions won't be cultivated at the top; they're being formulated right now by the social entrepreneurs working their way up from the bottom.

What the World Can Learn From Ontario's Education Successes

These accomplishments have not gone unnoticed outside Canada. The McKinsey group, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris, the National Center on Education and the Economy in Washington, D.C., and Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance have all done recent case studies on Ontario's education system, concluding that it is one of the most improved and highest performing in the world. They especially admire the impressive, innovative strategy that got the results. So, what's the secret?

It's simple. Ontario public schools follow a model embraced by top-performing hospitals, businesses, and organizations worldwide. Specifically, they do five things in concert -- focus, build relationships, persist, develop capacity, and spread quality implementation.

In other words – move forward together.  Not just a cute political line, but a model that succeeds.  Funny how that works, isn’t it?

Let's not rest on our laurels, though - we can make one of the world's best education systems even better.  The current appetite for change allows for new ideas and structural changes that are long overdue.

Extending the school year is just one such example; very few kids need the tilling season to help on the family farm any more, which is was the point of that system.  Doing that (but including sufficient break periods throughout the year) means more education, could allow for teachers to have more normalized schedules (with a couple blocks of weeks off here and there for battery recharging) and make better use of our education infrastructure.  With an expanded suite of after-school programming, it can be easier for parents of all economic backgrounds to provide quality extracurricular programs for their kids and manage their own time better, too.

That's one idea - there are plenty more good ones out there.  When we choose not to settle for best, there's no limit to how far we can go.

What Can ORNGE Teach Us About Proactive Mental Health?

Yachetti said the Star and “others have suggested that (Mazza) is avoiding the process. That is simply not true as it is his current condition which prevents him from participating.”

He left ORNGE on Dec 21 and the now former board of directors became worried Mazza was suicidal. He has been under a doctor's care since then and may be an in-patient at a hospital or clinic in Ontario.

Well, now this is interesting. 

Nationally, there is a call for an expanded, integrated mental health strategy.  By its very nature, this calls for a national general health strategy.  Study after study proves that the socio-economic impact of mental illness is huge – and therefore is contributing to our debt crisis, our training deficit and all other sorts of social woes.  Now, here's further proof of that - a fellow who is on suicide watch appears to have behaved in a socially irresponsible manner without thought as to consequences.  The financial consequences and public trust impacts of ORNGE are enormous - and rightly so, Premier McGuinty is worried about what else might be going on out there. 

It must be asked, as we look at proactive mental health, at improved training and opportunity and a focus on accountability - would a more proactive approach to mental health have prevented the challenges at ORNGE?  Could they have prevented "personality" problems that led to e-Health, or Walkerton, or the death of Dudley George?

There's plenty of evidence to suggest the answer is yes; given the right, proactive accommodations and conscious thought as to consequences, we could have planned better in each one of these cases.  Social-Emotional learning, EQ development, etc. can help foster consciously pro-social development.  But do we believe that, seriously?  Are we ready to accept that difficult personalities (and charming personalities) are reflective of neurochemistry and environmental factors?  Can we get past the “suck it up” and “get over yourself” mentality still prevalent and really invest in understanding who we are and how we exist as a societal system?

My guess is no.  Or at least, not yet.  Most (I say again – most) backroom political operators I know see mental health as a policy widget, period.  They fundamentally don’t believe in “move forward together” – they practice “every man for himself.”  A bit over a year ago, I had a chat with a guy in the know about what the next steps should be on mental health; the reply came back “we already allocated funds” as though that meant the right demographic had been assuaged, so it was on to the next thing.

Problem is, that kind of survival-of-the-fittest mindset is the exact same thought process that landed the system with Chris Mazza.  Mazza, by every account I’ve read of him, is a big-thinker, fast-talker, charming to the nines.  He’s the kind of person you just feel is somehow ahead of the curve – his very demeanour inspires confidence.

What if that demeanour, that behavioural pattern, is the exact same starting point for the mess that ORNGE got itself into?  What if Mazza has, like so many people in politics and business, an undiagnosed “mental health” condition that, because it caused him to excel, people were willing to overlook until the cracks started to show?

Political operatives can tell you countless tales about seeking the perfect candidate and apparently finding them, only to run into a whack of “personality-challenges” down the road.  You could sit in any Legislature in Canada and probably assess rather quickly a number of people who could be slapped with a diagnosis (and some already have one).  The problem is, these manic, delusional, obsessive people – when harnessed the right way – are the ones who move the ball forward.  They are our innovators, our social outliers, the people who think around corners and inspire other to follow.

Conversely, the ones who are quieter, less confident, or seek greater direction are seen as “dead wood” – without consideration ever being paid to the environmental factors of work.  Again, it’s subconscious “survival of the fittest” at play, meaning it’s the most aggressive and competitive, not necessarily the most talented, who rise to the top – until they over step themselves.  Our approach to proactive occupational mental fitness is feeding into our broader health and economic crisis.   It’s like we’re wringing our hands over the complexity and cost of treating lead poisoning without looking upstream for a leaky pipe.

We should watch what happens in the case of Dr. Chris Mazza closely.  How much his case will incite some introspection on the part of policy makers and institutional leaders will be most telling of how quickly we can start embracing the changes our society needs to keep growing forward.