Congrats John!

It’s a good day for the 21inc community.

John McLaughlin, President of UNB for another couple days, is the recipient of the Order of New Brunswick. Clare Whelton-McCain, a strong supporter of the arts in New Brunswick is also a recipient. Through our partnership with McCain’s I’ve had the opportunity to meet Clare and this is great recognition of her work.

It’s not an embellishment to say that John has been an instrumental force in New Brunswick. His NextNB program at UNB (link to about us) spawned 21inc, and John has continued to be a huge champion for us. That’s why it was a no brainer when 21inc co-Founder and Founding Chair Anne McInerney proposed that a group of us nominate him for this award.

But not only was it his vision that was the impetus behind 21inc, but the New Brunswick Business Council and the Wallace McCain Institute for Business Leadership too. At his retirement dinner David Ganong spoke of his legacy going beyond UNB’s walls, creating institutions that will continually spawn more and better leaders for New Brunswick. How awesome is that!

John’s vision has always been challenging, unconventional, progressive and inspiring. For example, this is from a speech he gave to the Public Policy Forum in Ottawa.

“…our political process has become pretty bad theatre. There is this sense that it does not connect with us individually or collectively. It does not resonate and it does not deal with the real issues that are emerging. It does not allow us to be engaged in any meaningful fashion.”

"As we in Canada wring our hands and reflect on how we somehow have to regenerate and rejuvenate our political process, I would say to our political parties that the next great Canadian political leader will not be the one grasping the ten-point plan, not the self-described populist who thinks he or she is speaking up for regular people, and I doubt it’s the one who is most familiar right now to the establishment. You will know him or her when you meet them. It is going to be someone who can not only read the crowd, but who can translate what they are saying and from whom you can get that sense of empowerment and engagement.”

Congrats John! Well deserved.