A sharp politician: Young people could learn a lot about public service from late foreign affairs minister By Loren McGinnis here Original Article ‘here’ contributing writer Loren McGinnis is taking part in a forum on Canada’s role in the world, March 11-15, in Quebec. Less than a week after returning from a national forum on Canada’s role in international affairs in Gatineau, Quebec, I peered up from my coffee and bagel and caught a glimpse of a headline in The Globe and Mail: Mitchell Sharp dies at 92. The newspaper report announcing Sharp’s death told his life story as one of political service to Canada. He had started off as a federal public servant, eventually got himself elected, and held several cabinet positions including minister of foreign affairs. Though the connection is distant, I am related to Mitchell Sharp. And in finding out about his death, I became interested in learning more about his life. He was my grandfather’s cousin. They were both born in the early years of the 1900s to sisters of a big Winnipeg family. Despite the relatively distant relation, my mother had corresponded with Sharp and had lunch with him the last time she was in Ottawa. Minister of foreign affairs, eh? Might run in the family. I had been considering just that job following my stint in Québec and Ottawa. I attended a forum hosted by Canada 25, a non-partisan, not for profit organization aimed at bringing the voice of Canadians between the ages of 20 and 35 to our national policy discussion. Indeed the theme and topic Canada 25 had covered was particularly relevant: Canada’s role in the world: from middle power to model power. The national forum left me incredibly inspired. I have spent the week since trying to explain to people what it was about the forum that was so profound. It wasn’t the address by our foreign minister, Bill Graham. He spent his speech apologizing for having to sneak off to the French Embassy for a soirée and highlighting the strengths of a bilingual, French-English, folk band that is touring internationally. It wasn’t the president of CARE Canada, John Watson, who spoke pessimistically about the lack of public will to handle the challenges the world is facing. It wasn’t even the depth of understanding that was represented by the many young over-achievers (myself excluded). Despite piles of prestigious education and international experience that the group brought together, it was the simple and practical solutions that inspired me. I am often discouraged by the sense that anything an individual can do is merely a drop in the bucket. Indeed this is almost always the case. However it’s troubling that people use this as an excuse to do nothing to make the world a better place. Leading up to the national forum, I was grouped with Canadians living in Denmark, Mexico, Washington DC, Norway, London, and Toronto to work on the huge topic of governance. Simultaneously, there were six other groups of Canadians splashed all over the world working on prosperity, the environment, health, society, media and culture, and security. When we came together, we had all refined our understanding and arguments about what ails the world. On the topic of governance, we had clearly drawn the connection between democratic participation and human rights. The media and culture group had done their work on the importance of free press, especially in the developing world. I expected that the forum would be high-minded, where the ideas of the seven groups would be distilled into one clear and powerful rhetorical device. But what the group focused on was not rhetoric. The challenges facing the world have been articulated enough. Over the course of the forum, notions had to be translated into plans of action. The weakening of our Foreign Service was combated with policies aimed at making the service appeal to those with working spouses and families. The security and prosperity of Canada was addressed by being honest about the need to have a good relationship with the United States, and what the costs of that relationship would be. These plans of action were built around concessions to practicality and the perspective of young Canadians. While some of the perspectives shared by youth will inevitably dissipate as we age, some will not. The next generation of Canadians has markedly different social and economic priorities than the generation before. The question is not whether young Canadians have a perspective on the future or whether they care: in both cases, they do. The question is whether they will find ways to be inspired by drop in the bucket progress. Perhaps that is what was inspiring about Canada 25’s national forum: they managed to make adding drops to the bucket seem sexy and important In the last years of his life, Mitchell Sharp was focused on helping youth in his home province of Manitoba and in Ottawa. In his lifetime Sharp put enough drops in the bucket to make a difference. In the twilight of his life he sought out opportunities to encourage young people to do the same. Who knows, his tireless work may just inspire a long, lost relative to some day overcome generational cynicism to become the minister of foreign affairs, too. © Copyright 2003 Canada25