Bob Rae - Learning from the Past, Imagining the Future - Apprendre du passé, façonner l’avenir
Reflections from a Political Life - Réflexions sur une vie politique
- Publisher
- Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa Press
- Initial publish date
- Apr 2023
- Category
- Political, Political, General, Post-Confederation (1867-)
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Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780776640167
- Publish Date
- Apr 2023
- List Price
- $14.95
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eBook
- ISBN
- 9780776640181
- Publish Date
- Apr 2023
- List Price
- $32.97
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
The Symons Medal, one of Canada’s most prestigious honours, recognizes an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to Canadian life.
The award evening affords the distinguished recipient the opportunity to discuss the current state and the future of the Canadian Confederation.
The Honourable Bob Rae is the 2020 awardee, in recognition of his many years of work on humanitarian issues, most recently the Rohingya refugee crisis, as well as his commitment to Indigenous issues and his decades of public service and teaching. He has always been deeply involved in the political life of Canada—as a member of Parliament, former premier of Ontario, and interim leader of the federal Liberal Party.
Bob Rae, the twentieth recipient of the Symons Medal, devotes his lecture, titled Learning from the Past, Imagining the Future: Reflections from a Political Life, to exploring such themes as Canada’s improbable origins as a nation, post-war emergence onto the global stage, active membership within the United Nations, and the significance of the ever-evolving Canadian constitution—a “living tree document.”
Learning from the Past, Imagining the Future extends the access to this inspiring lecture from a key contributor to the Canadian nation.
About the authors
Bob Rae was elected eleven times to the House of Commons and the Ontario legislature between 1978 and 2013. He was Ontario’s 21st Premier from 1990 to 1995, and served as interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2011 to 2013. He is working now as a lawyer, negotiator, mediator, and arbitrator, with a particular focus on first nations, aboriginal, and governance issues. He also teaches at the University of Toronto School of Governance and Public Policy, and is a widely respected writer and commentator.
An author of four books and many studies and reports, Bob Rae is a Privy Councillor, an Officer of the Order of Canada, a member of the Order of Ontario, and has numerous awards and honorary degrees from institutions in Canada and around the world. Bob is married to Arlene Perly Rae, a writer and speaker, and they have three children. They live in Toronto.
Excerpt: Bob Rae - Learning from the Past, Imagining the Future - Apprendre du passé, façonner l’avenir: Reflections from a Political Life - Réflexions sur une vie politique (by (author) Bob Rae; introduction by Steve Bellamy & Dennis King)
There are three critical ingredients to moments of positive change. The first is listening. The second is learning. The third is leadership. Deep and focused listening is hard, because it means hearing, and absorbing perspectives that are often very different from our own. It means accepting criticism, which is never easy. But without this skill we’re not engaging in real dialogue. We live in the age of messaging. George Brown, Macdonald and Cartier, at a particular moment in our history, decided to stop just messaging and start listening.
Learning is hard because it means grasping new things, and sometimes discarding old ideas that no longer work. It can mean admitting failure. But learning means growth, maturing, reflecting, and then applying oneself to new things. And clearly, listening and learning go together.
We sometimes think of leadership as preaching from the mountain top. But leadership is about persuasion, which to be truly effective means doing a lot of listening and learning oneself. And leaders need followers. If they are too remote or aloof they might be great moral or prophetic figures, but they are not leaders. Leaders must also be able to execute, to not only have a vision and followers, but to take the steps necessary to get things done.