Fuelling Inspiration

I had the wonderful opportunity, as my first ‘official’ event as Chair of 21 inc., to attend the Public Policy Forum (PPF) Testimonial Dinner on Thursday night in Toronto. Our own Premier, David Alward was one of the co-chairs (with Elyse Allan, President and CEO of GE Canada), and the room was filled with 1300 public servants, policy makers, social innovators, and business men and women. I must admit, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into, and felt like a rather small fish in a big pond, until I started talking to people. No matter where we come from in Canada, we seem to all struggle with many of the same issues – education, healthcare, social equity, the environment. I had some great discussions about the nature of engagement in New Brunswick, and what 21inc. is doing to be the successful and sustainable action tank that we were set out to be, and how we are cultivating leaders of today and tomorrow, ones that could possibly be honoured at a PPF Dinner in the future.

There were six people honoured at the event: the Hon. Bill Davis, Former premier of Ontario; Gordon Nixon, President and CEO of RBC; Jim Stanford, Economist for Canadian Auto Workers; Monique Leroux, President and CEO of the Desjardins Group; Emerging Leaders Award winner Victor Thomas, President, Regina and District Chamber of Commerce; and, Hyman Soloman Award Winner for Excellence in Public Policy Journalism, André Picard, Public Health Reporter, Globe and Mail.

Just typing their names tires me out, and to think of the quality of award winners is simply awe inspiring. I could go on a long time about the many things these individual said that caught my attention, but I will focus on a couple.

Firstly, Bill Davis. I must admit, I didn’t know much about him until last night. Now, if he decided, at 82, to run in an election, I would be more than willing to be a public servant in his government. A dynamic, fair, and incredibly witty gentleman, Premier Davis lead Ontario in the days of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the birth of Medicare, as was intricately involved in the signing of the Constitution under Pierre Trudeau. A man of integrity, one of the most inspiring things out of his mouth was this – “we believed in ideas over ideology […] We had an obligation to mature the economy, keep people employed, and help those who couldn’t help themselves. To those cynical about public life, we could fight with our opponents, but broke bread together. It wasn’t personal.” In this day in age, we can get so wrapped up in party lines, whose idea was what, and infighting in government, that we tend to lose the big picture. That as public servants and policy makers, we have a job to do for the people. To provide essential services, and basic rights to our communities, provinces, and our country. And the kind of politician Bill Davis was, we don’t see very many of any more. He impressed me, he moved me, and he made me want to be a better person, and a better public servant.

Secondly, Monique Leroux, she was elected by her peers to be the only woman to run one of the largest companies in the nation. Monique spoke with such passion for her work, and for the values it was built on. And she said this one thing that really inspired me – “We cannot leave our democracy to those who shout the loudest. The best ideas emerge when many voices are engaged.” Isn’t that the very premise on which 21inc. is built. A group of young, engaged, and passionate people coming together in one voice. And as chair of this organization, and an alumna of the 21 Leaders program, I couldn’t be more proud to be involved with an organization that is based on ideas not ideology, and emerging ideas.

So I left Toronto motivated not only as the representative of 21inc., but as a public servant, and a Canadian. And just when I thought I couldn’t get more inspired, I ran into David Suzuki in the airport in Montreal. No joke. He has long been a hero of mine, and he was kind enough to engage in a conversation about what is going on in our community. Such a cool guy.

I look forward to many more inspiring moments over the next year in my term as Chair of 21inc., and would love to hear your ideas and stories that inspired you! Send me a note at alycia.morehouse@fredericton.ca.