To Whom Much is Given...

My parents are always on my mind. But it has been especially so recently.

My father passed away 10 years ago today.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, and my mom passed away 10 years ago on March 31 .

I was very blessed to have been the son of John and Margaret Savage. They were exceptional people who believed passionately in the importance of both public service, and in making life better for others. There are very few days in my life that go by without someone taking the time to speak of how my parents impacted positively on their lives.

As children, my six brothers and sisters and I were made aware of our good fortune in being born into what my father called 'a life of privilege'...we were not rich, but we wanted for little. We grew up in a wealthy country where we had access to excellent education, and an abundance of opportunity. My parents wanted us to understand our good fortune, and to understand the need for us to make things better for ourselves and for our community.

 

We were taught that "to those whom much is given, much is expected." Those were words that have been used by many, including JFK, in paraphrasing the words of Luke (12:48).

 

In my current life I think about those words as they might apply to our city of Halifax. I often speak of the natural and earned advantages that our generation have been given. We are geographically well positioned as a Gateway into North America, with one of the greatest harbours in the world. We have outstanding post-secondary institutions, and in part due to that fact, we have a highly educated workforce. We have strong, steady public sector employment and some amazing entrepreneurs. We have a world class airport and are the regional leader in finance, health, and education. We have strong cultural and artistic institutions and leaders. In short, we have advantages that most communities would love to have. And we have done well. But have we done well enough?

 

We have so many opportunities that doing well is not good enough. We have the ability to truly become a great city.

This week we will have the Cogswell Shake-Up, where we continue the early stages of revitalizing the interchange lands that were lost to a concrete and asphalt roadway in a wrong-headed 1960s approach to planning. Think how much more beautiful and inviting our downtown area could be if we truly embrace the challenge of balancing our heritage assets with progressive, high quality development; improve our streetscapes; invest in culture big and small; and, support the local independent businesses that give our city so much character and spirit. It’s not something City Hall can do alone – we must work in tandem with government and private sector to improve our showcase to the world.

 

The Irving Shipbuilding contract, new investments in our offshore and new infrastructure like our convention centre and Central Library provide a springboard to a new prosperity.  But we can do much more to ensure that the Halifax we pass on to our children is truly better than the one we inherited from our ancestors.

We have been given much, we must be sure to create much more. It’s what we should expect of ourselves.