The greatest Canadian

A few years ago the CBC came up with a great contest to identify the Greatest Canadian. People were asked to submit their votes. It was a great idea and caught the imagination of Canadians.

Pierre Trudeau, Tommy Douglas, Wayne Gretzky, John A Macdonald - even Don Cherry - were among the most popular submissions.

 

I have been thinking about that contest for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we have been looking for potential names for our new ferry, and some of the ideas have focused on local, names like Vince Coleman, the heroic train dispatcher who sent a Morse code message to halt a train moments before the Halifax Explosion), William Hall, an African Nova Scotia who was our province’s first recipient of the Victoria Cross and former Dartmouth Mayor Danny Brownlow, who passed away in July. (You’ll have to stay tuned for the winning name).

 

But the other reason is the upcoming Terry Fox run. For me, Terry Fox is my greatest Canadian.

Terry was of my generation, and I recall the amazing momentum he built in 1980 when he ran for 143 days on one leg. Starting with nothing but guts and determination, he dipped his leg into the Atlantic Ocean near Saint John’s Newfoundland and set off to cross our immense nation.

 

Today, it is hard to imagine that the initial reaction to his run was completely underwhelming, but his commitment to the cause of raising money and awareness for cancer research drove him forward. Eventually he captured the imagination of a country, attracted thousands of supporters, met Bobby Orr and Daryl Sittler and raised awareness of cancer issues across Canada.

 

I can recall listening to radio reports of his progress, and talking with family and friends about an issue that I wouldn't have considered otherwise. I was proud of Terry Fox, and proud to be Canadian.  When his dream ended near Thunder Bay with more than 5300 kilometre behind him, I watched the news with my family and was overcome with emotion as he pledged to come back and complete his Marathon of Hope.

 

That was on the first day of September 1980. He died less than a year later and his funeral was carried across the country. As a 20-year-old with plans for the future and a sense of invulnerability, there weren't many things that made me cry. But I cried on that day. And I was one of many, probably millions of Canadians, who felt a complete sense of loss.

 

During his run Terry raised just under two million dollars - a week later more than $10,000,000 was raised in a day for his foundation. Each year tens of millions are raised from  Annual Terry Fox runs that take place throughout the world. Approximately two thirds of a billion dollars have been raised in the name of Terry Fox.

 

In 2005, I was in Seoul, Korea attending meetings of the Asia Pacific Economic Conference, as a Member of Parliament. Somebody from the Canadian Embassy asked me if I would be available to attend the Terry Fox run the next day. I was able to change flights and stay for the run. There were over 3000 people who showed up on that day, half a world away to honor the memory of that great Canadian and raise money to fight cancer. How many Canadians, how many citizens of the world have such an impact?

 

For years loyal volunteers like Dartmouth’s Graham Coleman have been organizing runs. People like Joe Robichaud who had most of leg amputated in the1960s inspire runners (and run himself ) when he speaks of progress made in the fight against cancer and JC Douglas shows up year after year to make the event happen.

 

I think often of that summer of 1980. If Terry Fox were alive today he would be 55 years-old. He likely would be a fit man and likely would have made a big difference in the life of our country. But he didn't live. And he will forever be a valiant hero, a young warrior with a brave smile who refused to be beaten by cancer, even as it took his life. He is an icon, a champion, and someone we can all be proud to call Canadian. In fact to many of us, he is the greatest Canadian.

 

 

Falling forward and springing back

It always seems that summer shoots by so quickly.

Whenever I look at a summer calendar in May it presents plenty of gaps and opportunities to get away. By the end of June, the gaps start to narrow, and it is a struggle to find time to recharge......this year was no different.

With Canada Day, Natal Day, Pride week and so many great festivals and events in HRM the calendar fills up. I was able to get to most parts of our community, and enjoyed meeting people across the municipality.

Pride week was great; Natal Day weekend drew big crowds; I visited Japanese, Swiss ad English vessels while they were in Port. We had lacrosse and baseball national championships here, hosted a wonderful Buskers festival, enjoyed another huge International Tattoo week, the Halifax County Exhibition, celebrated National Acadian Day, and so many more community festivals and events.

In late August I spent the better part of two weeks traveling across Eastern Canada and New England with my family on our way to drop my daughter off in Montreal for the National canoe kayak championships. With the kids growing up fast, it’s hard to know when we might be able to do that kind of road trip with them again.

As always, with the passing of Labour Day, the pace picks up again. We have much on our plate at Regional Council over the coming months. The Regional Plan, Metro Transit public consultations, solid waste system consultations, the Mayor’s task force on violence update, development of a branding plan for HRM, our first municipal alcohol policy, a sponsorship policy, some big ideas to consider for the Cogswell Interchange lands, and many more challenges and opportunities.

My staff and I are also rolling our sleeves up on a couple of other special projects. In my campaign I spoke about Halifax being the most healthy, liveable community in Canada. We are working on a plan to see what that could mean. We also are planning to take a tighter focus on our downtown and work with all of the passionate people who want to see decisive steps taken to make our urban core fulfill its terrific potential.

Here is the thing.....sometimes we don't know how good we are, and how good we could be.

In August I spoke to a visiting convention of a North American newspapers association. This group met in recent years in San Francisco, New Orleans and other great waterfront cities. They were amazed by our waterfront and felt it was more beautiful than others. They spoke of our vibrant bars and restaurants, and the shops within walking distance of their hotel. In July the HMS Scott, Britain’s fifth largest naval vessel came to Halifax. Commander Pat Mowatt told me that of all the ports of call on the Atlantic Coast, Halifax was the one that the crew most enjoyed.

We do have a lot going on, and most of it is good...even if we struggle to believe it ourselves. But this is no time to sit and count our blessings. It’s September, and it’s time to get back to work.