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Learning how we live together

As I have said many times in this column, my greatest challenge each week is to think of something to write about but this week my challenge was to select among the many, many issues that have captured my imagination over the last few weeks.
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As I have said many times in this column, my greatest challenge each week is to think of something to write about but this week my challenge was to select among the many, many issues that have captured my imagination over the last few weeks.

I must begin by saying that I have the best job in the world.

Last week, I didn't write a column because I was travelling to Ottawa to meet with some of my Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) colleagues.

SSHRC is Canada's research council agency. They support academics in the humanities and social sciences to conduct research on the most pressing issues that impact our communities and the world. Every year, the council recognizes leader scholars with Impact awards and this year the awards were presented by the Governor General at Rideau Hall. As part of the council, I was invited to go along and it was an evening that was truly spectacular, for many reasons.

A few days after I got home, the news was full of discussions about speeches delivered at the United Nations by world leaders, including Justin Trudeau. I decided to go and look at the two speeches that he has delivered to the UN to get a sense of the way that our country is being portrayed on the world stage.

His remarks in 2016 focused on Canadian diversity and it did so by revealing the long and difficult history of a country determined to champion diversity.

This year, the speech focused on the need for reconciliation with Canada's Indigenous peoples recognizing what he said in the 2016 speech was our "shamefully continuing marginalization of Indigenous People."

If you didn't hear either speech I would recommend a listen and, by way of contrast, listen also to the full speech by Donald Trump (I am going to discuss the president's speech in next week's column).

In 2016, Trudeau focused on the importance of the economy and jobs for creating the bedrock of peace and stability in the world. And he suggested that the path to such prosperity is paved by "focus(ing) on what brings us together, not what divides us."

He provided examples of Canada's participation on the world stage that have brought people together around important issues that touch all of us. He argued that the only alternative to cooperation is an approach that exploits the worst of human nature: "exploiting anxiety and turning it into fear and blame."

He said: "You see, in Canada we got a very important thing right. Not perfect, but right. In Canada, we see diversity as a source of strength, not weakness. Our country is strong not in spite of our differences, but because of them."

He also acknowledged the grave errors of our history and this year's speech tackled Canada's record on reconciliation with indigenous peoples.

I raise these two speeches to bring attention to the role of state craft in liberal democracy.

Many years ago, the conservative commentator George Will said that "state craft" was "soul craft" and that states have the obligation to make conscious decisions about promoting the growth and development of civil society.

The debate about what is best will be contested and different opinions will exist about what is the best way to live together: how do we go about promoting diversity; how do we reconcile our history with Indigenous peoples; how do we promote free speech while, at the same time, avoiding the exploitation of anxiety? The fact is that states must make investments in answering these questions. They do so by supporting the agencies that fund the very best research.

And thus, I return to my evening at Rideau Hall.

The SSHRC Impact awards recognize the very best research of scholars who help to answer these questions and questions like them... questions about how we live together and what policies, practices and ideas that will become the basis of our citizenship.

The range of winners is impressive and demonstrates a wide variety of diverse collaborations including those with First Nations communities.

I hope you take the time to look up the 2017 SSHRC Impact winners. I would also recommend that you look at the Storyteller videos to see the amazing work of graduate students.