Toronto, Wednesday, October 26, 2011
It is a great honour to speak to you on this milestone anniversary of the Massey Lectures, one of our country’s great cultural institutions.
For the past 50 years, these lectures have been given by some of the boldest, most original thinkers of our time, who have deepened and even transformed our sense of ourselves, our country and the world in which we live.
And they have done so through the communication and power of ideas.
My predecessor, Vincent Massey, often spoke of the ability of the office of governor general to act as “an instrument for Canada,” and he felt the same way about this series that bears his name. Looking back at the distinguished alumni who have delivered these lectures over the past half-century, I am tempted to read their names aloud, so brightly do they shine.
Even more striking is the range of subject matter these luminaries have tackled, beginning in 1961 with Barbara Ward’s study of global poverty, and continuing with explorations of many of the key issues of our age.
And this year, that most chillingly familiar—and yet beguiling—of Canadian themes: winter.
What’s missing from this partial list is a sense of the remarkable depth with which the Massey Lecturers have addressed these themes. It is difficult to measure the impact of this series over a span of 50 years, but, as a Canadian forum for the sharing of original ideas and insights, it is without parallel.
And it is an outstanding example of what we do very well in Canada: communicate.
As governor general, I have often remarked upon the things that knit our country together, and I think our achievements in communications are foremost among them.
Think of the physical lines of communications—first by canoe, later by steamship and the railway—that were so vital in connecting us geographically during Canada’s formative years. And then, in the 20th century, we developed new ways of coming together across vast distances: the first transatlantic wireless transmission from Signal Hill, Newfoundland, in 1901, followed by the telegram, the telephone, radio and television.
And today—the age of the Internet—Canadians are again playing a prominent role in the technology of communication, and creating content that is carried on new kinds of waves.
In many ways, communication is the essence of Canada, the key to the success of our sprawling, diverse federation.
As the author B. W. Powe observed: “Through the committees and meetings that first established the Canadian map in 1867, through the language controversies and crises of unity, the public debates and referenda that have characterized Confederation, we can pick up, and discern, this story developing: dynamic communication.”
If it sounds like a lot of talk, it is, and that is precisely why our society, despite the challenges we face, is in many ways the envy of the world. We have chosen to talk things over—over and over again. Surely, there is no better way to build the country, and the world, of which we dream.
Today, the global communications revolution brought about by the Internet introduces new possibilities for dialogue, and poses new risks. Rather than bridging vast distances, one of our primary tasks today lies in bridging our differences, both within Canada and around the world.
The incredible diversity of this country is at once a challenge and our greatest strength, and globalization amplifies the possibilities. As we celebrate our diversity, we should strive to limit the differences that divide us, and not grant them too much sway. Let us focus instead on what we share, and on building common cause and understanding.
Because one thing is certain: our future success as a nation will be rooted in the strength we derive from our diversity. And to understand our strength, we must listen to each other and constantly, relentlessly communicate. As we have seen, good things will follow.
We should also be conscious and proud that our successful experiment in building a peaceful, prosperous nation from diversity is a beacon for the 21st century, when so many societies have become divided and dysfunctional over difference.
Since my installation as governor general one year ago, I have been inviting Canadians to imagine ways to build a smarter, more caring nation as we approach 2017, the 150th anniversary of Confederation.
I believe this wonderful milestone can help us to focus our efforts, just as the prospect of Confederation helped us to crystallize our hopes for this country before it existed.
As Richard Gwyn points out in volume one of his biography of John A. Macdonald, our first prime minister understood that Confederation was above all a means to an end. That end was an independent North American nation with enough “will and nerve” to survive alongside the great powers of Britain and the United States.
We had no choice but to be an ambitious country. That’s why our constitution included a pledge to start work on a trans-Canada railway within six months of Confederation, and ultimately to extend our borders all the way to the Pacific.
Today, I believe we must be equally bold in seeking new horizons—only this time, our challenge is to build a smarter, more caring nation in a rapidly changing, global context. In crafting that which is both smart and caring, we must communicate our ideas to one another at every opportunity. Far from abstract, these horizons of creativity and compassion are the keys to our well-being in the 21st century.
In the caring nation we envision, excellence and equality of opportunity coexist, and the value of knowledge always depends on its ability to help others. That includes the disaffected and marginalized among us.
And in the smarter nation we envision, communication, collaboration and innovative thinking are central to our lives. Canada is blessed with a wealth of minerals, timber and fresh water, but our greatest resource by far is our collective ingenuity. How do we best apply ingenuity to enhance our resources—and our society?
During the past year, I have visited many communities that are drawing from their roots and breaking new ground in caring and creativity. I have been to the Arctic, where volunteers with Habitat for Humanity in Iqaluit are building affordable housing in their spare time, and I have visited the new Stephen Hawking Centre at the Perimeter Institute, and the Institute for Quantum Computing in Waterloo, where some of the brightest minds in the world are exploring nature at the quantum level and building the theoretical foundations for a new form of communication: quantum information processing.
There is no doubt we live in a time of profound, far-reaching change, but despite the challenges we face, our position is as strong as any in the world. And the revolution in global communications means that we need not be in the physical, financial or population centres to succeed. The important thing is to learn from each other, to forge connections at home and abroad, and to think creatively in solving problems and generating new ideas.
I am moved by the thought of these lectures being broadcast around the world, by the image of people sitting quietly beside radios or plugged into podcasts, listening. This year, we are tuned into Adam Gopnik’s musings on winter, which themselves are the by-product of the close attention he has paid to other writers and thinkers, to our history and culture, and to nature.
Winter—it’s a season well suited to dreaming, is it not?
Each year, the Massey Lectures provide us with a wonderful reminder of the transformative power of ideas. This is where we grapple with the ideas and assumptions that determine our lives—sometimes without our realizing it. I am reminded of Hugh MacLennan, who once compared gardens to civilizations.
He wrote: “In the relatively rare periods in the past that we call civilized, people understood that a civilization is like a garden cultivated in a jungle. As flowers and vegetables grow from cultivated seeds, so do civilizations grow from carefully studied, diligently examined ideas and perceptions. In nature, if there are no gardeners, the weeds that need no cultivation take over the garden and destroy it.”
I would like to thank and congratulate the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Massey College and the House of Anansi Press on this wonderful partnership that has given us 50 years of the Massey Lectures.
And I want to call upon each listener and reader of these lectures to become full participants in imagining the smarter, more caring Canada of 2017. Your help is essential to the country of which we dream.
Thank you.
