Letting Go to Create an Equitable World; A Needs based Approach to Values

I presented this paper on 20^th January 2016 in Ottawa, Canada as a part of a Canadian Association for the Club of Rome (CACOR) session co-facilitated with Sheila Murray and Gabriela Greff-Innis as an  emergent living inquiry on -The Search for Values that will Make a World of Difference, where we explored ways of “Learning to Live Differently”.  

The Context

Our economic growth model has been achieved at the expense of natural and social capital. The creation of wealth has resulted in an underclass of poverty, inequality and destruction of our natural ecosystem diminishing our bio-capacity. We have put value on GDP based on false assumptions and distortions to favor a growth at the expense of human well being and justice. This model values efficiency over equity, machines over people and development over the environment, leaving a majority of people not meeting their basic needs. 

In this context, this article inquires into Values that drive this world. Realizing the limitation of these superficial values, what other kind of Values should we focus on to create a more equitable, resilient and a sustainable world?.  

I also acknowledge how difficult it is to make transitions when a certain way of being is hardwired in us.  The article presents a few interesting models for transition, to consider both at a personal and a community level.

    

Emotions, Values, Ethics and Morals

A conversation about values, ethics and morals is not complete without looking at how one embodies and lives them based on our needs. Our behavior is shaped by our emotions, which arises through our feelings when a need is met or not met. 

As such;

•  We share many basic feelings, needs and values
•  Many needs go beyond those required for survival, so we can thrive not just survive
•  Feelings are the expression of met or unmet needs and serve to motivate us to fulfill our needs.  Emotions are the combination of feelings and needs.
• Everything we do - even our vile behavior - is an attempt to meet our needs.

As a human, our needs go beyond those required for survival - to thrive, to find power, meaning and purpose in life.  For most living the western multicultural model, apart from autonomy, it is to be valued, appreciated, respected as individuals and for others, especially indigenous and aboriginal communities, it is to belong and to be one with nature.

When those needs are not met, feelings of frustration and anger will arise to form emotions.  Those feelings will manifest themselves in thoughts leading to action - assertive or aggressive, and if there is a power equation, it may be passive. When there is a passive reaction, pent up emotions can arise, which later may lead to aggression or manifest itself as illness or despair.  When emotions arise, we do have a choice as to how we react and this depends on how evolved we are in our brains and minds. 

  

In the Inspiring Transition program of Andrew Gaines -  http://www.inspiringtransition.net/participants, he presents John Corrigan’s work – Group 8 Education - http://gr8education.com/, John Corrigan identifies the brain in two zones; the Red Zone – the child mind and the Blue Zone – the adult mind.

Red Zone – The Child Mind	Blue Zone – Adult Mind
Can undertake simple tasks Respond to reward and punishment Have emotions that are overwhelming Are self-centred Are impulsive Cannot imagine a future different from today Cautious in engaging with the world	Are self-aware Can expand awareness through higher order learning Are social and can adapt to changing surroundings and society Have the ability to imagine, plan and achieve a different future Don’t blindly react to emotions, have availability of choice and the ability to put off gratification

Many adults are yet stuck in the child mind for various reasons of nature and nurture.  The adult mind can reason, differentiate and discern, has high self esteem, and is confident, collaborative and creative.

Values and Needs

Yet we have the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which informs us of the following;

1.  Biological and Physiological needs – air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep.

2. Safety needs – protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, freedom from fear.

3. Social needs – belongingness, affection and love, – from work group, family, friends, romantic relationships.

4. Esteem needs – achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, respect from others.

5. Self-Actualization needs – realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.

When our first and second order needs are not met, unless we are highly evolved in our minds to control our emotions (adult mind), our values and ethics go out the window as our primal reptilian survival brain kicks in and we move into our child mind.  Even an evolved adult mind is challenged here and the most vile, reptilian behaviours - even to hurt and kill another, will arise when we are in this state.

Meeting these basic needs are essential for human survival and dignity. When basic needs are met, the person gains space to take positive action to meet the higher order needs. 

This action and behaviour has to be anchored sound values and ethics. Only then can we evolve as individuals towards self actualization, leading to a confident society with high social esteem that is based on respect, empathy and social harmony.                                                                                     

Ethics, Morals, Values and Decisions

If we look at ethics on its own, they describe a generally accepted set of moral principles.  Morals describe the right or wrong of actions.  Values then describe the individual or personal standards we hold these ethics and morals to, in terms of what is valuable and important.

William D. Hitt in his paper Ethics and Leadership: Putting Theory into Practice poses a question;.

What ground rules do you follow to determine what is the “right” decision? .  

He states that most people’s responses fall into four categories and ethical systems;

Category	Ethical System
Decisions based on expected results – the return on investment	End Result
Decision based on what the law states – the legality of the matter	Rule ethics
Decision made of strategy and values of the organizations, nations and the globe	Social contract ethics
Decision made on our personal convictions – our conscience	Personalistic ethics

The Wealth Divide

The modern world where a few of us seem privileged, the ground rules are more and more based on the return on investment, which is controlled by the rule of law that is expedient and transient, to favor those few.

If we do not create a balance, we have a majority of people who do not have physiological and safety needs met - with no respect, dignity and well-being.  This creates a dissonance.     

How can this planet be sustainable and resilient in this dissonance? 

How can the few of us privileged expect those desperate to live by expected values and ethics?.   

When someone is hungry, values and ethics do not figure in their action to survive. 

As such, our sustainability and resilience agenda has to let go of the old paradigms and power structures that created the 19^th century world based on the notion of manifest destiny and social Darwinism.  

All us privileged may have to let go and trust to share in the abundance.  It is morally and ethically imperative that the majority of the world living in poverty have to be invested in, so their basic needs are met. 

That requires then a healthy balance of Hitt’s four categories, not only for profit and end result, but what it does to individuals and to society for well-being and harmony.

The politics of consumerism, oil and terror driven agendas of the western alliances, WTO, IMF and even the opposing Chinese ideology for global control have to change. 

New York Times investigation found, just 158 families, along with companies they own or control, contributed $176 million in the first phase of the 2016 campaign.  

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/11/us/politics/2016-presidential-election-super-pac-donors.html?_r=0

Why are they giving their money to politicians? .  

Imagine the implications of this for the rest of the 318 million people and the 7 billion in the rest of the world that the USA dominates now through the media, business and the gun.  As China also competes with this agenda to control its own people and the world through technology, the people will lose their freedom and suffer.  

As civil society - we have to wake up and act to change this to bring the corporate and government driven political rights to align better with people driven social and civic rights.  This can be driven through an enlightened dialogue and crucial conversations.  

For that to happen, everyone must feel powerful and confident, which is not there when most depend on external sources, yet we do have those internal source driven by the power of the mind.  

Taking the Steps for Change – Inspiring Transition

The “democratic” world yet has people power to change things.  The first is to become aware and inquire into what is going on.  For that, people may have to look for information and news apart from the corporate controlled mainstream media.

For instance, the well researched yet controversial book Earth into Property by Anthony J. Hall sheds light into the history of this new world since the Colombian landings in the Americas.  When we are aware, we can take action based on the root causes of the inequalities we face today.  This interview with Prof. Anthony J. Hall summarizes this history, which may prompt people to a deeper inquiry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45UDDpAdkuM

When we research, think critically and become well aware, civil society can to come together and the worldwide web provides those platforms.  There are thousands of initiatives out there developed by astute people to assist in mobilizing change.

One way is the Inspiring Transition approach.  It is a platform developed by Andrew Gaines to support millions of us seeding transformative ideas into mainstream culture using engaging communication tools.

It is designed as a collaborative platform for communicating to inspire mainstream commitment to doing everything required to transition to a life-sustaining future.

The model promotes organisations and their members that care about climate change and social well-being to devote efforts to public education about the need and hopeful possibilities of systemic change.

There are ready-to-use tools so that communicating need not take an inordinate amount of any one individual or group’s time.  Individuals, communities and organisations can communicate to create action networks to promote change starting from a primary level.

This link provides access to a guide called  Accelerating the Great Transition: Engaging mainstream commitment to a life-sustaining future.  https://app.box.com/s/a8jervgtwkurwz28g430yxh05iwlgikc

Change at an Individual Level

However, all this requires some personal change.  Personal change is difficult as it means letting go.

Letting go may mean becoming vulnerable.  

There are many tools to mitigate this feeling of vulnerability from mindfulness through meditation to more structured process such as the U Theory developed by Prof. Otto Scharmer of the Presencing Institute (PI). https://www.presencing.com/overview

This is an awareness-based action-research community that creates social technologies, builds capacities, and generates holding spaces for profound societal renewal.   Part of this process is to let go.

The word Presencing means to sense, tune in, and act from one’s highest future potential—the future that depends on us to bring it into being.  Presencing blends the words “presence” and “sensing” and works through “seeing from our deepest source.”

Theory U proposes that the quality of the results that we create in any kind of social system is a function of the quality of awareness, attention, or consciousness that the participants in the system operate from.  So it focuses on the individual first.

The practice of meditation is a tool to help us become mindful and present as we open our mind and heart to inquire to comprehend our selves first.  Who are we?  What  motivates us?.    

With this self knowledge we may be able to better transform our thoughts to imagine a different future - perhaps become fearless to become more vulnerable, come out of our comfort zones - yet imagine a future that includes the other - the rest of this ecosystem, rather than a selfish pursuit of power and happiness.  

The Root Causes

Growing up as a Buddhist, I have always known the key teaching of the Buddha – The Root Cause of Suffering is Attachment - https://lalithanandagunaratne.blogspot.com/2016/03/root-cause-of-suffering-is-attachment.html.  

I also know that the laat 500 years of the western paradigm separated mind and matter.  That way, we honored the machine rather than the tree.  Being a product of both worlds, I have been torn between the two.  

I am realizing this folly, but old mindsets and habits do not change easily.   That is where I find marrying the mindfulness practice through meditation to the U Theory process, I can begin to let go without fear, so I feel free and unencumbered to look at things as they are.  

How do I link this to Values?

Many voices are calling for change.  Brave people like John Perkins, who was guided by his conscience, blew the whistle on the US government’s action around the world to promote the terror economy through his book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.  http://www.wanttoknow.info/johnperkinseconomichitman

These kinds of one sided “development work” is what has kept the wealth-poor divide perpetuating, so we have to work to change all this.  

The internet has connected  most people to the web of information, so we cannot keep everyone in the dark anymore.  We have to mobilize when we can to change the world order so those systemically disadvantaged poor meet their basic needs, so they can start living their values and morals.

That means a compromise from us who have. In the Paris climate talks, when India says, it requires coal power for cheap electricity for its people, so their lives can move away from the kerosene age, the developed nations have to accept that or share in the higher cost of promoting renewable energy, as that is what will save the world collectively.

Finally, this world is one - pollution has no borders and its inhabitants do not have borders either, as when their lands become deserts or get destructed by war, they will fill other more hospitable places.  That is why, those of us who can have to come together to help create a more equitable world, then we can expect everyone to adhere to and live by a certain set of Values.

This is my life's inquiry.

Root Cause of Suffering is Attachment

I was surprised to see the tag line for a dance routine, “+ -“, for a third year choreography production at York University in Toronto as, “The Root Cause of Suffering is Attachment”.   

The dance depicted attachment, suffering, detachment and happiness in a beautiful rendition by the two performers.

This statement was Buddha’s, pièce de ré·sis·tance after his enlightenment over 2600 years ago, and not too many people in our civilization since, have really taken heed of it.

Much of the world revolves around attachment as consumerism is about identity that one derives from being attached to whatever thing that is supposed to make one feel good.  Then again, we are also attached to our name, culture, religion, nationality – some even fight to kill when another threatens or insults them.

Of course, the most significant attachment for most is our loved ones – parents first, siblings, spouse, our own children, relatives and friends.  Buddha transcended all that, even his spouse and child, as he went searching for a higher truth.  He was already in another metaphysical plane of existence to be able to do that.

His journey of inquiry took him through many practices as he settled on meditation to quiet the mind to gain deep insights into the way of nature, life and suffering.

The Four Noble Truths

This arduous practice and inquiry led him to enlightenment, when he revealed the root cause of suffering to be attachment via the four noble truths.   

 

The attachments happen through the 'five aggregates': form or material image which is the body (rupa); sensations or feelings received from the body (vedana); when feelings intersect understanding through emotion we have perceptions (samjna); mental activity or formations lead to our worldview (sankhara); and finally our consciousness (vijnana).

 

The fourth truth gave us a path to transcend suffering and find happiness through the Noble Eightfold Pathway, which is essentially letting go of the five aggregates.    

If suffering is the norm, he said, we have to commit to and persevere on a certain path to seek happiness, the deeper happiness that comes from equanimity - state of psychological stability and composure undisturbed by experience or exposure to emotions or pain and suffering that may cause people to lose the balance of mind. 

The power of balance is possible if we are not subjected to an emotional roller coaster - when there is loss or gain; praise or blame; fame or insignificance. Power of balance may result in emotional composure – the equanimity - the Buddha spoke of.

The Buddha also said, don’t take his word for it as he related in the Kalama Sutra;

“Rely not on the teacher, but on the teaching.  Rely not on the words of the teaching, but on the spirit of the words. Rely not on the theory, but on experience.  Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.  Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.  Do not believe anything because it is spoken by many.  Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

...But by observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it” - Kalama Sutra – the Buddha 

Today’s Misery

The wars of today stem from people defending a nation, religion, a culture, a tradition, a lifestyle that we identify with and attached to.  We define and are attached to our identity through the 'five aggregates' and sometimes we defend it even with vile behaviour, when we feel our honour is insulted and violated.   We may fight to the end, even do the kamikaze or blow ourselves up and others at the extreme for a cause that we are so attached to.

All this happens when we believe in the illusion that we are our own thoughts to identify with and be driven by them. Our thoughts are influenced by our ego, emotions and perceptions which are artificial constructs conditioned by our nurture and acculturation.  Our experiences lead to judgments, biases and prejudices to colour our thoughts that limit us.  

When we quiet our mind through meditation to observe, analyse and inquire, we begin to realize that we can transcend these artificial constructs to alleviate our suffering and move towards the unconditioned - the nature of things as they are.  

How Mindfulness can put our Attachments in Perspective

Mindfulness is an elegant way of investigating the attachment-suffering nexus.  Through the practice of meditation we observe the unconditioned - that everything on this earth is transitory and impermanent.   

This insight gives us a clue as to how clinging and attachment to anything can bring us suffering - as simply - we cannot attach to anything permanently, not even our name, a religion, a nationality, a way of life, even our children, let alone our material possessions.  These deep insights show us that happiness arises from letting go.

My Mindfulness Journey

As I meditate daily - insights reveal themselves in a way that I am beginning to validate what Buddha taught, yet he asked us not to take what he said in blind faith, but to inquire for one's self.    

That alone requires me to take responsibility for myself, as my suffering cannot be blamed on another, but my own Karma.   I may transcend it through the Noble Eightfold Pathway.

Meditation - pointed attention and concentration helps me to check those thoughts that may be full of judgement, prejudice and righteous indignation even.  With mindful awareness, knowing and bare attention I can catch them, before they become a loaded thought that could misdirect me to fix others rather than myself first.    

The reflective, mindful space helps me gain right understanding to redirect my thoughts with positive intention for right thought,  effort and action, so I can act and behave in a way with kindness, compassion and empathy first towards the imperfect 'me' and then others – to every being in nature, from a rock to a tree to animals and to the other humans. 

Our Oneness with Nature

As thinking, reasoning, intelligent people, the modern human has forgotten our oneness with nature through our education and conditioning. We have become arrogant to rule over and subjugate nature through science and technology.  

 

If we are one with nature, how can we subjugate or control nature - we are nature.   Whatever we do – with technology, with machine, with artificial intelligence - to interfere with nature, we are then interfering with our very nature of being.    

Right action is when we celebrate and honour our own life by honouring the very nature of it, as when we are born, live and die, we are changing a state of being, just like ice melts to water and turns to vapour when heated - it is all one and the same in different states.    

When we realize this unconditioned state, we do not need to cling to life through the 'five aggregates' of the body, feelings, perceptions, worldviews and consciousness as it takes it’s rite of passage - as our physical self comes from nature and goes back to nature.  

 

In quietening the mind to listen to nature’s  wisdom reveals that our consciousness and spirit may live on.  When we cling to our physical nature we suffer, when we learn to let go, we can be happy.  

 

This may take a lifetime of a mindfulness practice and inquiry realize. 

Then we may notice that the Root Cause of Suffering is Attachment. 

Bow in Gratitude and Receive a Blessing

It was an emotional farewell for 24 boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 17 who had spent five days learning and sharing together. In keeping with South Asian tradition, most of them bowed and prostrated in gratitude and respect to the elders who had been their tutors. When they bowed to me, I got a sense of their innocence and felt a genuine happiness for their gratitude for having shared with them in their learning and I, in turn blessed them.

The youth were from six schools in the Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra states in India, participating in a British Council-sponsored experiential-learning program, Dreams + Teams on leadership and teamwork through sports, held at the Chetinaad Vidya Ashram in Chennai in October 2006. I was supporting the lead trainer from Britain to co-facilitate the program with these young leaders and six teachers.

The tradition of bowing to elders is one of the most beautiful acts of gratitude I encounter in Asia. Yet I was not always comfortable when someone bowed to me.  

Our Hybrid Tradition

My English educated parents were more informal, perhaps leaning more towards the West in that tradition even though they did live a Buddhist life of humility, compassion, generosity and simplicity.  They were part of a hybrid generation with their Christian schooling in colonial Sri Lanka. 

Hugging was a part of our way of expressing our love and gratitude rather than bowing. So I felt embarrassed when anyone bowed to me. This also came from the notion that no one should feel so subjugated as to go down on their knees to anyone else.

I came to realize that this was my Western notion of individuality, yet I felt liberated when I bowed to my parents on my wedding day. 

My partner Samantha was brought up in the tradition of bowing to her elders. Her German-born mother encouraged it as a part of her father's Sri Lankan tradition. I remember feeling awkward doing it on my big day.  As I stood up, seeing both my parents' with teary eyes was a significant emotional moment for all of us.     

Receive a Blessing

In a recent discussion with an elder - I discovered that in bowing, people are not only showing gratitude, but seeking to receive a blessing from you in parting. When someone bows to you, the correct response is to touch the person with love and compassion, blessing them for a happy future and helping them up. It is a return gift of positive energy. 

Further, in bowing, a person shows complete trust and vulnerability, abandons the ego in humility as they take their eyes off you. They are at your mercy. This show of trust strengthens the bond of our fellowship.

Now I see bowing in a different light. To bow to someone in gratitude and respect, seeking a blessing, needs one to love and respect "self" first. If we can learn to bow to our self, to each other as the human family and to nature - if we can learn to bow with love, trust and humility to receive blessings - we are sharing our common humanity.

Revised from the article in the October 2007 issue of Ode Magazine now called The Intelligent Optimist.  http://www.theoptimist.com/magazine/

Paki Bashing and Race Relations – How Bill Davis and Roy McMurtry Worked to Establish a Thriving Multicultural Society in 1970s Ontario

I grew up in Toronto in the 1970s and 80s when there seemed a kinder gentler politics around.   I had met Conservative Premier of Ontario, Bill Davis a few times and I campaigned for Attorney General Roy McMurtry in his Eglinton riding in the early 80s. I supported them for their positive policies in the 70s and 80s on inclusive race relations and their genuine efforts to make newcomers – the visible minorities welcome to Ontario at a time fraught with racial prejudice for South Asians – the “Paki bashing”I experienced on the streets.    

I had just turned fifteen in April 1974 and it was the day after moving to an apartment on Parkwoods Village Drive in Don Mills.  At the end of the first day of my new school, Donview Heights Junior High, I took a walk exploring the area at dusk towards Parkway Plaza.  I did not think much of the three boys who were walking towards me and suddenly I was on the ground being punched and kicked and for the first time to hear “Paki go home”. 

I was confused, scared and angry, did not know what they meant to call me 'Paki' at the time.  I stumbled to our apartment building bruised and battered, sat on the stairwell crying not wanting to show my face to my parents, yet I had to relent and go in.  When my mother asked me, I said I fell down the stairs and knew she did not believe me.

The next day in school, a new friend, Dominic Cursio asked what happened and I inquired what Paki meant and he replied, “That is a bad word for you guys".  He educated me on similar derogatory words for Africans, Italians and instructed - “Don’t take it man - fight back”. 

I did fight back, as on another day walking along a hallway, a youth lined to enter a class called me 'Paki'.  I reacted with a body slam onto the lockers and as the startled boy fell to the ground the teacher ran out to grab me and said, “That’s it, you are going to the Principal”.  As we were about to enter the office I managed to tell him, “That guy called me a Paki” and he immediately turned around to walk me back to the boy and asked him to apologize to me. 

Imagine my surprise!  

I realized then that this teacher had no issue with my colour, along with other teachers, administrators and most of the schoolmates I encountered.

There were the blatant few who did make me feel vulnerable.  Soon I learned that they were cowards, as whenever I challenged them, most retreated, except on the few occasions where I had to fight and on another - running was the best option rather than fight four.  

In the fall of 1979 - I took on three youth at Eglinton and Weston Road about 11 pm after I got off my job at Queensbury Arms restaurant.  That time I was saved by an Italian Pizza delivery person when he stopped his FIAT on the middle of the road, and another good Samaritan who gave me a ride to the Eglinton Subway - giving me reason to be optimistic about Canada. 

A Culture and a System that Honours Diversity

Through this tumultuous time I learned that the average Canadian was inherently open to welcome a stranger. Perhaps, this can be attributed to John Ralston Saul's assertion in his book A Fair Country that Canada's Aboriginal  culture to welcome, accommodate and include strangers to the circle is embedded in the Canadian psyche.  

I also realized that there has to be policies and laws to protect us from the mean and prejudiced few.  The most difficult kind of prejudice to deal with would be institutional and covert in nature – be it from an employer, a landlord or even an officer of the law. 

The Ontario government initiatives gave me comfort that, even if the streets were unsafe at times, a process and a system was being institutionalized to deal with discrimination.     

These initiatives showed how Canada, in the 1970s and 80s, was truly setting the stage as a multicultural, plural nation.  As I was politically interested and engaged, I began to learn about the pioneering race relations efforts of the Ontario government led by Conservative Premier Bill Davis.

Around this time Toronto was shamed when Shamsudin Kanji, a Tanzanian-Indian immigrant was assaulted at a subway station by two white youth and thrown onto the tracks. He committed suicide in hospital after both his legs were amputated.

With Mayor Gus Harris
Scarborough Civic Center 1983

All this prompted me to get involved in the Scarborough Community and Race Relations Committee established by Mayor Gus Harris and worked on initiatives to bring better cultural awareness and harmony in the changing face of our neighborhoods.   

Meeting the Pioneers - Bill Davis and Roy McMurtry

I met Premier Bill Davis when I was a volunteer cameraman with my father and a friend, Razvi Azeez around 1980 at Scarborough Cable TV for a talk show - People Participation hosted by South Asian host of Pakistani origin, Sydney Zaidi. 
 

Premier Davis made a lasting impression on me as I had an opportunity to chat with him after recording the interview.  I remember his genuine curiosity and interest about where I was from, what I was doing and planning for the future.  His gentleness, humility and disarming smile was a pleasant surprise and I realized that my colour did not make an iota of difference to him.  

Meeting Premier Bill Davis  for tea at Queens Park 1981
(L-R) myself, Jasvir Soor,The Premier, Sydney Zaidi, Jim Ball

I met him another time when he invited a few of us community volunteers for tea at Queens Park - again the conversations confirmed what a statesman he was.

I got to know Roy McMurtry similarly through the talk show and realized he was a decent man too and as Attorney General he made race relations his priority, especially as the South Asian community was increasing many fold with the influx of East African Indians.

Hon. Roy McMurtry - <Wikipedia>

Mr. McMurtry backed by Premier Davis, encouraged the creation of the Mayors’ Committees on Race Relations in Ontario.  He established a race relations division in the Human Rights Commission.  He was also aggressive on the law enforcement side, giving special attention to the activities of racist organizations whose leaders he encouraged to convict and jail. 

His efforts got the Court of Appeal to agree that any assault that was motivated by racism should be treated more severely in sentencing.  

I remember our family friend and Crown Prosecutor, Kingsley Wijesinha, telling me a story when he sought and won a conviction for assault. The accused called him a Paki as he was escorted from the courtroom.  The Judge who heard this called him back and added another year to his jail sentence. Later the Criminal Code of Canada was amended to reflect this principle.

McMurtry also persuaded the Ontario cabinet to issue an official policy statement on race relations from the government of Ontario. The policy statement was developed and displayed in thousands of public places, including classrooms throughout the province.

Electioneering

Being aware of these efforts, I decided to canvass for McMurtry with a few friends in his Eglinton riding for the March 1981 elections.  I spent a few days walking door to door, dropping leaflets and speaking to surprised people. 

Many were intrigued by a visible minority being active in the community and politics, at a time when it was rare.  The positive interactions informed me more about this inherent Canadian nature of acceptance.

I remember the joyful victory night with beer flowing, music, dancing and Mr. McMurtry being genuinely grateful for our participation.  I felt it well deserved for a decent man who worked hard to make life better for us in Canada.

In an address titled Investing in Our Diversity at the 

Urban Alliance in Toronto, on April 19^th 2007, the Hon Roy McMurtry, as Chief Justice of Ontario said; 

My many years as a lawyer, Attorney General, and as Chief Justice of Ontario, have made plain for me this palpable truth: the law alone is not enough to protect those who are of different colour, or those who profess a different religion. The law will never be enough, by itself, because there is no legislature in the world capable of legislating ultimate principles.

You cannot legislate to what degree a man must love his neighbour, nor even that he must not hate him. It is, I think, true of tolerance as it is of liberty, that, in the words of justice learned first hand: “...it lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no court, no law can save it; no constitution, no court, no law can even do much to help it; but while it is alive, it needs no constitution, no court and no law to save it”.

Well said, Mr. McMurtry - that conditioning to be kind, open and accepting humans has to begin with parenting, schools and media.  

Yet I knew the importance of setting a standard with legislation as a deterrent, as there is always recourse.   

I did realize that I had to take responsibility too.  As much as I appreciated the laws being there, I knew as a newcomer, I had to reach out too - to engage, communicate and educate people - take away the fears of a stranger, to build friendships, trust and community, as it is a matter of the heart and mind and it is a two way street.

This meant being patient with people who mispronounced my name or thought we all lived in mud huts in Sri Lanka or were surprised I spoke English or knew the same songs, had a car or played Rugby back there.  I realized that reaching out, being open and patient led to good relationships and people opened up and invited us to their homes too, as we opened ours.   

While the Canadian welcome complemented by far reaching policies and laws has created a vibrant and a colorful urban Canadian landscape, I do lament and am concerned about so many distinct people in cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver becoming separated and polarized in language, religious and ethnic based schools and communities. 

When these Canadians miss opportunities to interact and learn about each other to become comfortable with the rich diversity of their neighbours, fissures in the multicultural and plural foundation of Canada may appear.  It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the original intent of these policies and laws are nurtured and perpetuated for unity and harmony.  

Its About Leadership

Haroon Siddiqui, Toronto Star Columnist published an article called Bill Davis and the art of human politics on August 9^th, 2009 paying tribute to him on his 80^th birthday.

Siddiqui wrote;

There was a time not that long ago when there were other ways of becoming famous, such as holding public office and serving the people in a modest, civilized manner. Bill Davis epitomized that ethos.

In 1982, when a determined Pierre Trudeau was not willing to compromise on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the provinces wanted leeway to override certain sections (the Notwithstanding Clause), it was the Conservative Bill Davis who convinced Trudeau to relent at the last moment - such was his personal power.

Section 27 of the Charter is what defined Canada as a multicultural nation.  

All this pioneering work by both Bill Davis, Roy McMurtry in Ontario, and Pierre Trudeau for Canada make them my Canadian heroes. 

McMurtry cites a threat from a white supremacist leader as a traitor to their race to thwart this important work, so we know all the risks that go with "doing the right thing" that may not be popular with the status quo (1).  

With Hon Alvin Curling at Queens Park 1988 

Their good work institutionalized multiculturalism, leading to wider acceptance and enabling astute and talented people like Hon Alvin Curling from Jamaica to be selected the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2006; and Hon Yasir Naqvi of Pakistani origin to be elected to the Ontario Parliament from Ottawa Centre, a predominantly white Canadian riding to become a minister; and to the rainbow cabinet of the new Trudeau government in October 2015.

I take this opportunity to pay tribute to these brave and pioneering leaders - Bill Davis, Roy McMurtry, Pierre Trudeau and everyone else who laid the foundations for the truly multicultural and plural Ontario and Canada for now and for the future.     

Thank you.

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(1) In a Letter addressed to Roy McMurtry by David Duke,The Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan wrote "In the name of the white race - take heed that your nefarious anti-white activities are being monitored and recorded by our international Klan movement. If you persist in your treacherous activities against the white race, I can assure you that there can only be grave consequences"  - Speech at Urban Alliance - Toronto 19th April 2007.