Patriotism in Peacetime

C.R. Charlton

Honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen: Before proceeding, I invite you to join with me in expressing our deepest sorrow at the violent passing of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

We were honoured when Mrs. Gandhi addressed the Empire Club in 1973, and it had been my hope that she would visit us again. Her death is a shock to us all, and her leadership, both at home and throughout the Commonwealth, will be greatly missed. We abhor the violence with which she died and we mourn her passing.

Please join me in a moment of silent respect for the Rt. Hon. Indira Gandhi. Thank you.

On October 11, 1918, Edwin Alan Goodman, foreseeing, no doubt, that World War I would end in exactly one month, allowed himself to be born.

This perspicacity was to stand him in good stead all his life. It has also stood the Conservative Party of Canada, of which he has served as National Chairman, and the Conservative Association of Ontario, of which he has been a Vice President, in good stead. Premier Davis has been quoted as saying: "Every political leader should have an Eddie Goodman". But this foresight has also been of great service to many non-political groups, such as the Royal Ontario Museum, which is currently engaged in a major capital campaign. Mr. Goodman was also a founding director of the National Ballet of Canada. The list of other cultural or health organizations which have benefited from his drive and sage counsel is a long one.

Educated in Toronto schools and the University of Toronto, Eddie Goodman was in the middle of his studies at Osgoode Law School when World War II erupted. He enlisted and served overseas in the Fort Garry Horse armoured regiment, reaching the rank of Major. He was twice wounded in Normandy, and was mentioned in dispatches.

After the war, he returned to his law books at Osgoode, and was admitted to the bar in 1947. He joined the firm of Goodman and Goodman; was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1954; became a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada and was honoured by being appointed an officer of the Order of Canada.

So far, I have tried to condense in these brief comments, the "outward and visible" achievements of Eddie Goodman. But let us not forget the "Inward and Spiritual" side. I have mentioned his perspicacity. But he has another dominant trait, much appreciated by his many friends; the simple, and I hope not oldfashioned trait of loyalty. If he adopts a cause he never waivers in giving it his very best support. The same characteristic is true of his personal relationships.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Tory's Tory, citizen extraordinaire, Mr. Edwin Alan Goodman.

Edwin Goodman

This year is the fortieth anniversary of D-Day and, on the sixth day of June, like tens of thousands of other Canadians, my mind wandered back to that exciting and, if I may use an overworked adjective, historic day in 1944 when my regiment, the Fort Garry Horse, landed on Juno Beach in Normandy. The First Canadian Corps was part of the Second British Army under General Dempsey and there followed the slow rolling back of the German army culminating in its total surrender and the return of freedom to western Europe. During that war, it was so easy to understand one's duty to one's country. It was to expend all your efforts to contribute in one way or another to the war effort. The whole of Canada had two objectives - to win the war, and to preserve the democratic institutions in the world so that free men could live in dignity and peace. While we achieved the first objective, I am not so certain about the second. Over half of the world's people live under tyranny and, in the democratic portion, millions live in conditions no one in this room would find acceptable for himself or his family.

In North America and in most other parts of the free world, we have embraced capitalism as the economic instrument for achieving that equitable distribution of the world's goods which is essential to a democratic society. At the present time, I can see no other course open to this country, or to the other democratic industrial states to follow. I do not believe, however, that we will be successful in achieving a fruitful life for all Canadians nor for that matter will we be able to preserve the system itself if we do not make certain that the system provides an equitable distribution of wealth and services. Capitalism cannot be defined as security for the rich and private enterprise for the poor.

... Everyone ... can assist in providing essential services for the less fortunate ...

Unless they enter public life, individual Canadians may not be able to play a significant role in ensuring a fair distribution of wealth. Everyone, however, can assist in providing essential services for the less fortunate. The professional and business classes who enjoy a large share of our wealth must recognize that they, in particular, have not so much an obligation but an opportunity to give leadership to their fellow countrymen in peace, in the same manner if not to the same extent, that they had when Canada was at war, particularly in this field.

My simple thesis is that it is our patriotic duty which if discharged will turn into great fun and enrich our lives to do more than pursue our gainful occupation and provide for our families. This obligation/opportunity can be found in several ways. First, by volunteer service to the community at whatever level and for whatever philanthropic, educational or cultural cause that appeals to us; and secondly, and note it is AND not OR, by donating a fair portion of our income or corporate profits to philanthropies to a far greater extent than Canadians have in the past; and, finally, by devoting a good portion of our time to supporting those in public life or better still by entering public life as a career.

Let me deal with a public career first. For far longer than I am prepared to admit, I have held various offices in the Progressive Conservative party both in Ontario and in Canada. This has given me the opportunity of realizing the tremendous sacrifices that are made by not only those who hold public office but also by our senior career public servants.

These sacrifices include the impairment or in many cases the destruction of promising and lucrative careers in the private sector, living at standards far below that which men and women of their capacities would have been able to achieve in private life, and having their motives and their actions constantly questioned - usually by the media liberally sprinkled with reporters who have neither the training nor the time to understand the issues. Finally, the public servants, elected or otherwise, must suffer the interruption and often destruction of family life by the demands of serving their city, their province or their country.

In today's society, it is in politics, not in the church, where the modern standards of morality are set. Furthermore, it is not only in the market place but in the legislative bodies as well that economic decisions are made which affect everyone's life. Certainly, therefore, we should accord both a high standard of respect and a comfortable living to those people whose actions affect our present and our future.

... We have been most fortunate in Canada both in the standards of conduct and the intelligence of people in public life ...

We have been most fortunate in Canada both in the standards of conduct and the intelligence of people in public life but like everything else except my wife's cooking, it can be improved. That improvement requires a higher degree of respect and understanding for the efforts of men in public service. This can only be achieved through a higher degree of participation in the process by the citizens of the country - a participation that goes beyond joining a ratepayers' group when your community is threatened.

Participation in public life is not the main burden of my refrain this noontime. I wish to speak to you about the other two matters which I feel are the duty of all Canadians, especially the professional and business classes - volunteer activity in private, social, cultural, religious and educational organizations and a much higher standard of philanthropic donations. The limited extent to which volunteerism plays an important role in the lives of most individual Canadians and the low level of our private and corporate philanthropic contributions is cause for serious national concern.

The emergence of many new voluntary associations and new vistas of thought and broadening activities are an indication of the interest of many Canadians in new and different social, educational and cultural causes which include correction fields, distress centres, day care centres, conservation organizations, museums and art galleries, as well as the traditional religious, health and education causes. Nevertheless, the evidence is incontravertible that the participation in all of these philanthropic matters is limited to a small percentage of the community and a small percentage of the professional and business community. Furthermore, if the private sector does not recognize and meet its obligations in these fields, it is a statement that the state must be all pervasive and will endanger the continued existence of the capitalist system.

Let me refer to a statement that puts succinctly the importance of volunteerism and private charity action. I am now quoting from an article by Joseph Berman and Edward Waitzer in The Philanthropist of 1982-83:

Private charitable action has certain qualities which are indispensable to an enlightened and free society. Private charitable institutions can provide freedom of choice and competition. They can set standards and experiment in areas too controversial for governmental bodies. Their independent status allows them to monitor and evaluate publicly governmental performance in the various areas of health, education, culture and social service. They can fill gaps in publicly provided services and offer a means for greater citizen participation in social action. They can help safeguard intellectual and artistic freedom and civil liberties. Finally, they can engage in the definition and preservation of society's highest values, especially those of a spiritual and religious nature.

There are many patriotic Canadians who would strongly endorse the values that Mr. Berman and Mr. Waitzer place on private charitable activities. Unfortunately, they do not represent anything like the majority of Canadian citizens. The statistics show a startling decline in philanthropic activities during the past decade. Today, only fifteen per cent of adult Canadians donate their time to volunteer causes and that time averages from 2.2 hours in Prince Edward Island to 4.2 hours in British Columbia for an average of less than three hours a week in the country. This means that we are faced with an expanding field of social, cultural and philanthropic needs and a shrinking work-force. When you add to this the realization that the last decade has brought a realization of how finite are government resources in these same fields you get some idea of how serious is the crisis.

Unfortunately, we have not yet touched upon the most serious problem facing Canadian volunteer philanthropic organizations - the unsatisfactory level of philanthropic contributions of both individual Canadians and most corporations carrying on business in Canada - a selfishness which the statistics show is on the increase. Listen to these statistics:

In 1960, 24.5 per cent of Canadian taxpayers claimed charitable donations of more that $100-in 1979, 10.3 per cent. Only eight per cent of corporations claim charitable deductions on their tax returns and fifty per cent of all corporate donations come from the top one per cent of Canadian corporations. The breakdown is even more disturbing. Since 1958, individual donations in Canada have dropped from two per cent of assessed income to 0.5 per cent in 1980. Corporate donations have dropped from one per cent of the pre-tax profits in 1958 to 0.5 per cent in 1980. This, incidentally, is only sixty per cent of American corporate figures. Individuals and corporations have failed to seize their opportunity to serve and enrich the society of which they are a part.

If it were not for the leadership of a small number of large public corporations and a few foundations, most Canadian philanthropies and social and cultural causes would be in dire straits.

This startling lack of largesse gives rise to two questions: Why are Canadians so selfish? What are the consequences of their meanness?

It is my view that the answer to the first question - Why - is simply that we live in an increasingly materialistic age when the ease of communications and its accompanying advertising have turned all of us and particularly those from twenty-five to forty into a totally consumer-oriented society - Hi Fi's, clothes, cars and food is far more important to the "ME" generation than the well-being of our fellow citizens. What is sadder is that we have retrogressed from ME TOO to ME FIRST - to ME.

Only one Canadian in ten is prepared to give up once a year the price of dinner for four (tax deductible) in order to help his neighbour - the government allows deductions from income tax for gifts to philanthropies of up to twenty per cent of income. Canadians average one half of one per cent of assessed income as donations.

The other major factor in the decay of our old sense of social conscience is that society looks to governments to do everything. The age of personal responsibility is past.

What will be the consequence of this sad transition from old-time values to modern materialism? I suggest a view illustrative of specific consquences:

Research into many modern diseases will be seriously hindered;

Local community organizations protecting the social fabric of our cities will cease to function;

Our universities will become stereotyped;

Our museum and art galleries will become second rate;

Mentally disturbed children will become mentally disturbed adults;

Our aged will be allowed to live in lonely isolation; (incidentally, pensioners give twice as well as any other class)

Our churches will fall into disrepair;

Our wetlands and bird sanctuaries will gradually shrink.

Many orphan boys will never have a Big Brother. While the specific losses, of which I have given a few examples, will be unfortunate - the harm to our democratic institutions and our fundamental values is far more serious. The involvement and social participation of individual citizens is fundamental to a successful society. The sharing of altruistic effort provides the bonds which bind a community and strengthen human values. To quote the National Advisory Council on Voluntary Action:

Voluntary action encourages Canadians to develop and express a sense of responsibility for themselves, their communities and their world and to express this responsibility with concern and compassion. In short, voluntary action helps Canadians grow as citizens. It also brings to bear on social and political activity certain viewpoints and the concerns which would otherwise be ignored or not heard.

Ladies and gentlemen, the right to participate in and help finance the formal and informal political process as well as the social and educational process is not available to the great majority of people in the world. It is in Canada. While I have been talking about duty, in fact it is a rewarding opportunity. Let us hope that more Canadians will take advantage of the opportunity.

Giving a sermon is a new experience for me but I am glad I have done it.

The appreciation of the audience was expressed by Sydney Hermant, a Past President of the Club.