The sessions that I attended on May 18th included "Collective and individual catastrophes - the paradox of political courage" by Pierre Zaoui, a lecturer at the Université Paris. As he outlined, our view of what sort of courage our political leaders should have has changed over time. Throughout, however, all leaders in the political realm have skated the relatively thin line between over-confidence and arrogance, and facing the possibility of abject failure.
The second plenary session, "Information in the Public Interest", approached the question from the viewpoint of how journalism influences the public policy discourse. Many of the panel and participant comments, however, reflected the apparent deep malaise within the field of journalism: significant cuts in the staffs of professional journalists across many different types of media, but particularly in the area of print media, have decimated the ranks of those whom we've traditionally relied upon for accurate, thoughtful reporting. Instead, we have a ream of regurgitated headlines and the rise of a new type of citizen journalist (the blogger) whose impact is yet to be fully understood.
The afternoon session, "People and 'The Environment'", by William E. Rees of the University of British Columbia provided insight into how we have dealt with the question of the environment in public policy, and how we need to do much better in this area. Given the LeadWell Foundation's prior work on what we call Nature Accountability Leadership, it was a great honour to talk over ideas with one of Canada's leading minds in the area of environmental footprints.
Sessions on May 19th extended the event considerably, focusing first on the question of "Community Service - prudence or courage". One of the most important messages from the panelists was that no one sector truly can supply all of the needed insight, innovation, and solutions needed for our society. Instead, reflecting the societal scale of the Initiative's own work, solutions must be shared across the traditional boundaries of business, political, and social sector agencies.
The second plenar of the day focused on a bold plan for eradicating poverty in Canada through mechanisms such as the living wage. Speaker Seth Klein of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (BC Office) presented a compelling case for the societal benefits of such an approach, but acknowledged that it continues to be a hard sell in many cases among employers who get the concept (and who indicate agreement with it), but who say that competitive pressures make it impossible for the moment.
Last but not least, the final plenary on "Telling Stories to Save the World: Public Narrative and Policy Impact" highlighted again the challenge of mobilizing public action for crucial societal issues in a world of ever-increasing noise from things that compete for our attention. Despite our best intentions, we're often flooded with information and requests for our support, to the extent that the severity of a given issue can easily be lost on the general public. The matter remains a crucial for all of us, as many of the issues at hand rapidly are increasing in their scope and severity.
In closing, my many thanks to Pierre-Gerlier Forest, President of the Pierre Elliott Trudea Foundation and all the organizers and participants of the session. It was indeed an honour to be part of the event, and to share in the many insights that were generated.
Visit the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation website for more information, including the site's library of Trudeau Papers and other public resources.
