Problems of National Maturity

MR. STARK: Today The Empire Club of Canada is trebly honoured. First of all, we are honoured in the visit to this Club of the Governor-General of Canada. In the second place, we are honoured because this is the first visit of His Excellency to The Empire Club since his gracious acceptance of the post of Honorary President of The Empire Club. I hasten to assure His Excellency that we will do our best to see that the duties and responsibilities of this high office are not too onerous and not too burdensome. And, of course, the third reason for our gratification is that His Excellency should be accompanied on this visit by his lovely and charming wife; and thus enable us to declare this a "Ladies' Day" at which our own wives and lady friends can be present also.

In the now fifty-eight years of its existence The Empire Club of Canada has entertained hundreds of outstanding personalities from all walks of life and from most countries; but it is always especially gratifying when we entertain one of our own Canadian Native Sons whose career has been as illustrious and as deserving as that of His Excellency. Our guest was born in Montreal in 1888 and apart from the many years he has been serving his country, both in peace and in war, in foreign places, his home too has been in Montreal. He graduated from Loyola College in Montreal and he received his Bachelor of Laws at Laval University. In 1911 he was called to the Bar of Quebec and he practised law for some ten years. But although his training and his early practice was that of a lawyer, he chose instead to dedicate himself to the service of his country.

In war he won the Distinguished Service Order and the Military Cross and Bar. In peace he filled a variety of diplomatic posts with courtly distinction, eventually becoming Ambassador to France until his retirement in 1953. His decorations are so numerous and his distinctions so varied, that one can only mention a few. His courageous war record is known to all of us. It was after the war in 1921 that he married Pauline Archer, daughter of the late Honourable Mr. Justice Archer and they have a fine family of four sons and one daughter.

You will recall that he was Canada's representative to DeGaulle's French Committee of National Liberation in London in 1943. On September 16, 1959, he became Canada's 19th Governor-General. He became the second Canadian Governor-General and he became the first Governor-General of French extraction. We know him and honour him as a man of great charm, of great integrity, and of great faith. It was typical of our guest that when he entered upon his important office of Governor-General he did so with a prayer for Divine Help. The opening six words of his address of reply at his installation were simply these: "My first words are of prayer." And typical also of the man was the last sentence in that same famous speech, when he said: "If Canada is to attain the greatness worthy of it, each one of us must say: 'I ask only to serve'."

Exactly one year ago today the University of Toronto presented our guest with an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree. In accepting this honour he used this striking language with which I close: He said: "Let us begin to associate prayer with power, faith with fire, charity with clear, swift action. May these spiritual shafts shatter the clouds of doubt and fear, light our path through the valley of confusion and guide us to the mount." Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the 19th Governor-General of Canada and the Eighth Honorary President of The Empire Club of Canada, His Excellency Major-General Georges P. Vanier, D.S.O., M.C., C.D.

THE GOVERNOR GENERAL: I can't tell you how pleased I am to be with you today. Be assured that this is not just an idle compliment to The Empire Club of Canada. I was wondering if I would ever get to you at all. Possibly some of you don't know (you are too young perhaps) that the correspondence about my address here began five years ago. Since then dates have been agreed upon, then cancelled for all sorts of reasons. I shall spare you the grim details. The final straw was laid on my back when the 17th November of last year was chosen and then swept aside for no less a reason than the Opening of Parliament-but I seem now to have shed the gremlins who were pursuing me. The nice thing about all this is that we appear to have been determined, you and I, to get together.

The wonderful welcome you have just given me warms my heart and that of my wife as well. My first words therefore are of gratitude and also of pride that you have conferred upon me the office of Honorary President.

In six years' time we shall be celebrating Canada's one hundredth birthday. I don't want to examine the best way of commemorating the centenary of Confederation, the National Committee on Canada's Centennial, which is governmental, and the Canadian Centenary Council, which is a voluntary body, are already doing so. I should like to consider, however, the preparation of mind and spirit which we should perhaps try to achieve during the intervening years.

Confederation was not the starting-point of our history, which stretches back much further than that. It could be better described as a land-mark along our path to nationhood. For those who conceived of a united country, who explained their idea to the people, and who finally gave constitutional form to their idea, Confederation was a great act of faith. We see it now as a constructive attempt to live with and gradually dominate the problems of history and geography. These problems may once have seemed well-nigh hopeless. They have been reduced and made manageable by a century of national life, shaped and guided by a common purpose derived from the inspiration of the Founding Fathers.

If some of the original problems have been eliminated, this, however, does not mean that we face the prospect of plain sailing in a stormless sea. The very solution of old difficulties has often produced a crop of new ones. Problems also have a habit of changing shape, so that what was yesterday a question of economics becomes today a matter of psychology and personal understanding. At the present time we have no dearth of difficulties or lack of problems to tax our ingenuity and our goodwill-without speaking of the tax on our pockets. I will turn to some specific cases later on, but now I should like to suggest that what we need as we grapple with our actual situation is a spirit of national maturity.

I feel that such a spirit could be the spring-board for a great new leap forward. It could provide a stimulus and a starting point comparable to that of 1867. Let me therefore try to explain what I mean by maturity. We often use the term when speaking of young people growing up. A boy, for example, begins by acquiring factual knowledge, to this he must add understanding. One then hopes that gradually with time and experience he will attain wisdom, which shows itself in mature judgment. Maturity is thus something affecting the whole personality. It implies a balance, a degree of self-consciousness and a sense of responsibility. I believe that this concept can be applied to the nation at large. We must strive to produce a people that is not dependent, which realizes its weaknesses just as much as its strengths, which is therefore capable of setting its own goals in the light of self-knowledge.

It will be no easy task to ensure that all the components of the mosaic of Canada's population take part in this process of growing up. The problem of full participation is complicated by the rapid rhythm of change built into the century in which we live. Statesmen have generally had to apply to the questions of their day the training which they received in their youth, perhaps a generation or even longer beforehand. This necessary time-lag between preparation for an attainment of high office was of little moment in more stable times. Today it demands a great effort of adaptation from those responsible for major decisions. Now, too, even the rank and file have to undergo the mental gymnastics of adjusting their minds to the infinite, and of accustoming themselves to measure space by light-years and time by geological epochs.

These personal difficulties should not, however, be allowed to blind us to the demands that the cause of national maturity will make on each and every one of us. One of the greatest needs of the moment is for a more active and widespread Civic Spirit. We must take pride in our communities and refuse to tolerate injustice and inefficiency within them. Edmund Burke once remarked: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." And one of the leaders in Canadian industry asked, only the other day: "Are enough Canadian corporations and business men accepting their responsibility and grasping their opportunity to participate in public affairs? Are there enough Canadians whose sense of responsibility will lead them to share in the democratic process?" For democracy is a challenge to all. Active democrats must have faith that their fellow-citizens love and seek the common good. It is up to us not to disillusion them. We must prove our zeal for the common good, which is above individual interests, by standing firm for justice and truth even at the cost of personal sacrifices. If we can spread this attitude we shall find that the law will be obeyed because it is seen to involve the common good. It will be kept even when it could safely be broken for the sake of private gain.

Civic spirit originates at the parish or community level, as it rises higher it blends imperceptibly with patriotism. Now patriotism I would describe as a mature form of nationalism. The patriot is "for" his country without being "against" anyone else. He does not condemn other nations, neither does he make excuses for his own country. He is a level-headed realist who believes that his people have something worthwhile within them to give. All too often in the past, I am sorry to say, we in Canada have been apt to alternate between a narrow nationalism and a facile rejection of our own efforts and even of our own successes. Let us try to cultivate a balanced view, let us avoid the temptation to seek a sensational headline when we discuss our own country.

Patriotism by itself, however, is not enough. We are called upon today to have an international outlook. Self-interest even dictates this, for Canada lives by its foreign trade. Over and above our commercial relations with the world, we have been gifted with a dual culture originating overseas while at the same time innumerable ties of kinship link us to Europe and to the United States. The role which we can and must play within the family of the Commonwealth is yet another reason for turning our gaze outwards. The new uncommitted nations which are emerging throughout the world likewise demand our attention. I wonder what proportion of Canadians realize that we cannot isolate ourselves in our particular ivory tower. How many understand that other people's problems are our problems? We cannot consider ourselves to have attained national maturity until the extent of our involvement in the world is widely grasped. I am hopeful that organizations and clubs such as this will make the facts more generally known.

You may perhaps feel that I have located the spirit of national maturity at a rather remote level. I hope I have not given the impression of preaching something which is only important in moments of national or international crisis. Maturity is an attitude of mind which we can never afford to lay aside. It is something which must be with us from day to day in all the complexities of family and social living. It must be our guide in dealing with such specific problems as crime, juvenile delinquency, alcoholism, drug addiction, mental ill-health or the break-up of families. These are scourges which the normal family and community hope and pray will never touch them. Yet even if we are spared, we still remain each to some extent his brother's keeper. Therefore we cannot abdicate all responsibility and simply leave it to government to look after the victims. In circumstances where prevention is so much more effective than treatment, it is essential to mobilize the energies of the whole community.

The whole community must take part in the effort to achieve maturity. It can do so by raising its standards and improving the quality of its life. Our language, our thought, our use of time both in work and in leisure, all of these must bear the stamp of quality. Only by excelling in whatever she does will Canada win for herself the respect of nations.

Having tried to outline some of the fields in which national maturity would naturally operate, I should now like to consider means by which a mature outlook might be stimulated. I believe that we need to develop within us the power of vision, that is to say, the ability to see things as they really are. We must liberate ourselves from prejudice and try to avoid seeing the problems of today with the eyes of yesterday. In this context I believe that philosophy is of prime importance. For not only does it condition to some extent the eyes of the beholder but it also determines the behaviour of those he is observing. The actions of men reflect their thinking. Let us take into account their ultimate aims just as much as immediate motives. I suggest that it is the duty of mature citizens to open wide the eyes of the mind, allowing them to range freely outside the field of day-today business.

The sequence: Examine, Judge, Act, is I think you will agree, a logical One, leading us to sensible conclusions. I have touched on the first step, examination. As for the second, judgment, it is rare for us to be able to judge "in vacuo" without knowing at all what will be the consequences of our judgment. I suggest that in all questions touching on national maturity we need a sense of direction. It is sometimes said that politics is the art of the possible and that all problems are not capable of rapid solution. I agree, but I hold that unless we have a clear purpose in mind, we shall never even know what is possible. If we are content with the status quo we shall never achieve anything. It is essential that we know which way we are heading at a time when family and community pressures are in many ways less strong than they were fifty years ago. By this I mean that the population is far more mobile than it used to be. In this age of the new suburb, much of the restraining influence of the stable community and of the wider family comprising grandparents, uncles, and cousins, has been lost. The basic family group of father, mother and children is often isolated and free to shape its own destiny. Pressure to conform to a moral ideal has been replaced by the insidious assaults of publicity and the desire to keep up with the Joneses.

In these circumstances a Club such as this could, I feel, fulfill a real need, by pooling the experience of its members in an effort to agree on what Canada should aim to become, and how she should work towards that aim. I believe that usually you have outside speakers to address you. They have their drawbacks-they may not come, and even if they do come they may not always be listened to. As an alternative you might consider a debate, or a brief talk followed by discussion, with the idea of getting the active participation of members, and if possible a measure of agreement and even of action.

Any attempt of this sort would be sure to entail discussion, debate, and I think fruitful dialogue. It is too much to expect that agreement will fall ready-made from the skies. In fact it is desirable that even non-Marxists should find their common ground by dialectical means. While there can be agreement about what is already known, the frontiers of knowledge are only pushed forward by the clash of ideas. For the truth very often exists at a mid-point between two poles where opposite charges meet, explode, fuse and flood us with light.

The sort of dialogue which I am advocating cannot always be obtained simply for the asking, for we have all been brought up in an atmosphere of toleration. Now tolerance is a virtue, which is the hallmark of our political and spiritual freedom, but in itself it is a negative quality, by which men allow the existence of opinions or things to which they can give neither agreement nor approval. The great danger is that tolerant people may too easily become lazy and indifferent. We all need to develop the art of criticism, which is only the habit of questioning intelligently. We must learn not to be impatient with the critic, and on the contrary to give him the benefit of the doubt, assuming that he is constructive and helpful until he has been shown to be negative or captious.

I am sure that it is essential for all those not debarred by office, to formulate their own opinions and express them vigourously. As a stimulus, how useful is a grain or two of discontent, above all when it is of the creative sort. A little discontent can shatter complacency and urge us to nonconformity, making us dissatisfied with what we know already. Under its impulse we can resist the mass pressures and the hidden persuaders, and seek always to expand the limits of the private world we know.

I should like to consider now certain expressions of this desirable spirit of national maturity. Fifty years ago or more one of the great men of my Province declared: "What this country needs above all is peace, concord and union between all the elements composing its population." The need for unity throughout the nation is no less great today, and ever since taking office I have been at pains to spread this message with no fear of repeating myself. The unity we seek is one that thrives on difference and diversity, one that abhors uniformity. We should stand united in full recognition of our differences, determined to transcend them, proud of our Crown, dual culture, parliamentary system, and substructure of Common and Statute Law.

I trust you will forgive me for repeating what I said at the University of Toronto when I received an Honorary Degree: "I always feel in Toronto, the Queen City, that it is most appropriate, indeed desirable, to speak of the Crown. We are privileged to be members of a great Commonwealth of nations, unparalleled in history, scattered the world over, autonomous yet united under one Crown. When this Crown graces, as it does today, the head of a Queen, young, radiant, and exemplary, we should count ourselves supremely blessed. How wonderful, how Providential that we should have someone, above class and party, to honour and respect, and above all, to love, because love is the great motive force in human and divine relations."

I believe that there is a spiritual power which finally draws together the people of a nation. Their unity is founded on love. Such love has nothing selfish about it, for it is the non-possessive love of friendship. By rational means it seeks the good of fellow-men. It finds expression in good citizenship, in respect for law and the rights of others, and supremely in the sacrifice of those who have given their lives for the benefit of their brethren.

If we are to take this deep and mature approach to the question of our common life as one people I believe that we have to evolve spiritually. Living things appear to have evolved from the individual cell to the complete human being. Machines have developed from the flint instrument to the atomic reactor. Meanwhile how much advance has been made by willpower, intellect and memory considered together? It seems that the human personality as a whole has to make up a lot of leeway simply to keep pace with the achievements of its more gifted exponents. Material progress alone I believe to be sterile and sometimes self-defeating. It should be considered as a means and not as an end in itself. When this distinction is forgotten the dignity of man usually suffers, and more often than not he is stripped of his natural rights. Science and technology, those two main props of material progress, have been described as wild horses which only human thought can control. Civilization is the aim of our manner of living, culture the object of our pattern of thought. To the former we should strive to give meaning, to the latter depth. If we can succeed in this double effort we shall improve the quality of our lives, we shall maintain our self-respect and keep ourselves distinct as individuals and as Canadians. By mental effort we can avoid the loss of identity, the person will triumph over the nameless mass.

By evolving spiritually, by becoming more fully conscious of our situation we can gain the ability to cope with the problems that beset us. What guarantee is there though, that we will give the right answers to the questions we have been able to pinpoint and analyze? To my mind the best hope of avoiding grave errors lies in improving the quality of our Human Capital. How can this be done--only by a return to morality. Such a return would achieve more than the most successful application of political or economic theory. At present vice and crime are accepted as a part of life and often glamourized by authors and entertainers. There exists a cult of success--and who hasn't heard of the perfect murder? We have come dangerously near to an acceptance of the doctrine that the end justifies the means. In such circumstances it is hardly surprising that the young have difficulty in recognizing right and wrong, hence their dismay and even despair. Our angry young men and our juvenile delinquents are not just a plague sent to try their virtuous parents, they are a direct consequence of the moral climate for which we are responsible. If we base morality on sound values which we are not ashamed to proclaim, then there is little cause for fear. This way lies the road to maturity.

THANKS OF THE MEETING were expressed by Mr. John Griffin.