My wife is from South Africa.
She describes her time in Canada in winters. I think this is her 33rd since she chose to leave all she knew to trample through the snow here. South Africa is beautiful and I have had the good fortune to visit twice. There are many highlights including a two-week tour with 27 family and friends and celebrating my birthday under the African Stars.
Two things that stand out were visiting The District Six Museum, created in an old Methodist church as a memorial to the forced movement of 60,000 inhabitants of various races during Apartheid and touring Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of his 27 years.
When Nelson Mandela was released, he had every reason to divide the nation and to pay back all the wrongs of his imprisonment and apartheid. Instead, he chose to unite it.
He also believed that the only path forward for society was education. That education extends beyond the development of skills we need for economic success. It can contribute to nation-building and reconciliation.
The same holds true for Canada and our future.
We need leaders that unify, that see the middle ground as a fertile place for reaching consensus, that accept other points of view. Today I see the opposite.
And we need to transform education with a curriculum that will prepare our children for the future. As taxpayers, we must demand a dramatic reduction in bureaucracy and handlers, and pour the money back into classrooms.
We need data to focus on our desired outcome. We must reward the best teachers, gamify education and revamp tactics, to keep our students engaged, in school and beginning their lifelong love for learning.
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