It's Christmas time.
A time of joy and happiness.
A time for family and friends.
A time for eggnog and leftover turkey. And a time for presents.
When I was a child, images of war and famine were prevalent on the television screen.
Even with only four channels, the news of the world seemed to be doom and gloom.
So every year, at Christmas, when Santa Claus asked me what I wanted, I always said: "Peace on Earth and good will to all."
Many years later, my answer would remain the same: "Peace on Earth and good will to all."
With this in mind, if I was giving out presents - if I had the power to speak to the leaders of the world - I would ask them to consider the question "what are we fighting for? Why isn't there peace on Earth?"
The answer would be a sound bite from many politicians. It would be something like: "To prevent the spread of war."or "To stop terrorists.."
But trying to stop fighting by fighting is a fallacy. The logic doesn't hold up.
As to the notion of stopping terrorists, the inherent structure of terrorism is such that it can never truly be stopped.
The ability of one person to inflict irrational harm on another for ideological reasons is something we can not eradicate. At best, all we can do is constrain terrorism.
I am not suggesting we should be soft on terrorists or terrorism, but I do think we should consider alternative approaches. As I was driving in this morning, a guest on a CBC show mentioned that a father of one of the children massacred in Pakistan said to the attackers: "We will get our revenge. We will give your children books."
Education is the only way to overcome fear of "the other."
Education is our way forward.
If I had the power to give it, my present to the world leaders would be to gather them together to discuss how we are going to have an educated world.
How are we going to shine the light of knowledge into the darkest crevices.
The answer is not Donald Trump proclaiming we need to stop the terrorists from using "our Internet."
It is about getting the terrorists to use the Internet more.
To learn about others. To gain empathy. War is not an answer as it simply breeds more war.
Indeed, I would argue education is the answer to many of the problems the world faces.
Environmental issues, economic instability, social justice, violence in all its forms - education is the solution. It won't stop bad things from happening, but it will limit their number.
To that end, my Christmas wish for the federal government is to engage in a dialogue with the First Nations of this country and find respectful ways to bring education to every community.
It is every child's right to receive an education.
As a nation, we need to ensure equal access to all for everyone.
For Prime Minister Trudeau, I would wish the "sunny days" and the after election "honeymoon" might last a little longer, but not too much.
A budget needs to be tabled in the spring and it needs to be more than just words. Action is required.
Environmental issues, economic instability, social justice, violence in all its forms - these are just some of the issues.
There are campaign promises which should be kept, but there are also promises which should be put on hold.
I suspect my list, though, would differ from a great many other people.
Indeed, it is doubtful Trudeau could actually achieve a consensus on the major issues before us.
That is the nature of governance. Our leaders need to do what they think is best and hope a majority of Canadians (or at least 40 per cent) agree with them.
It is also the difficulty with governance.
Any action will always have its critics, be it a national inquiry into missing women or a shift in Canada's position regarding climate change.
The trick to good governance is to learn from the opposition, but still do what is right.
For example, pulling our jets out of the engagement with the Islamic State may seem like we are abandoning our commitment to the conflict. But is sending jets the best way to spend the half billion dollars per year the operation is costing?
There are many Canadians who will or have disagreed with the government's actions.
Some military leaders think we need to ramp up our commitment. Others see this war as a losing proposition.
It is a divisive issue which Trudeau will need to navigate in the months ahead and probably for years to come.
Which brings me back to my Christmas wish: "May there be peace on Earth and good will to all."
