Johnston’s call to be ‘smart and caring’ was built at UW

On his very first day as Governor General, seven years ago, David Johnston talked about the Mennonites and BlackBerrys of Waterloo Region.

Mennonites, because they are models of community co-operation. In their traditional culture, if one family’s barn burns down, everyone else comes over and builds a new one. Johnston, who made his home near Heidelberg when he was University of Waterloo president from 1999 to 2010, had been inspired by the barnraisers who lived nearby.

And BlackBerrys, the messaging devices that were invented right here in Waterloo, but which also represent the kind of creative thinking that Canada is so good at. This country punches way above its weight when it comes to inventions, from peanut butter to insulin to smartphones.

“Smart and caring nation” soon became Johnston’s trademark phrase as he travelled this country and challenged Canadians to find their better natures in these co-existing virtues.

“He wanted to make a difference there,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, who succeeded Johnston as president of University of Waterloo, and worked closely with him.

Hamdullahpur said Johnston brought that spirit of innovation, which is everywhere on University of Waterloo’s campus, to his vision of what Canada could be.

“It was brilliant,” Hamdullahpur said.

“He established a really good sense of our knowledge, our scholarship, our innovative nature … and turned it into a very effective way of identifying who we are as Canadians.”

The 60-year-old university has always encouraged creative thinking, right from the days when it was an outlier because it encouraged its professors to profit from their scholarly research. That entrepreneurial activity led to the rich brew of spinoff companies which gave birth to the area’s robust technology sector.

Under the university’s last few presidents, that spirit of innovation has been increasingly tied to a profound sense of social responsibility.

Research priorities include finding ways to provide clean water to a thirsty world, and improving health and well-being for an aging population.

Hamdullahpur has made it a personal mission to dramatically increase the number of women students and professors in computer science, math and engineering at Waterloo, a project in which it is no exaggeration to say that he is a world leader.

It’s an environment that is smart, and also caring. And whenever Johnston returns to Waterloo, he describes it as a chance to “get the batteries recharged.”

Johnston, 76, will soon retire as Governor General.

It’s the conclusion of a long, illustrious career that included being the longest-serving president at University of Waterloo, principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University, and the first non-U.S. citizen to become president of the board of overseers at Harvard University, of which he is a graduate.

He has also written many books and chaired task forces for the government on broadband access, the environment, and ethical questions surrounding fertility.

In this, his final and highestprofile job — despite its restrictions on engaging in party politics — Johnston never failed to give a clear message about the boundless potential for this stillyoung country.

He was there, for example, to greet one of the first planeloads of Syrian refugees in late 2015.

He called the mass immigration of more than 27,000 of those refugees “a defining moment for Canada.”

He also recently co-wrote a book with local technology entrepreneur Tom Jenkins that celebrates Canadian innovators (proceeds go to the Rideau Hall charitable foundation).

Johnston’s last year as Governor General has also been Canada’s 150th anniversary year.

He used that opportunity to urge us to reflect on this “once-in-a-generation opportunity” and to make it an even better

country than it already is.

For Johnston, that includes pushing forward to achieve reconciliation with Aboriginal peoples.

It also includes understanding that the strength of this country lies in its diversity.

In one of his speeches, Johnston quoted from the Hebrew Bible: “Blessed is the man who plants a tree knowing he will not be there to enjoy its shade.”

No matter who is chosen to replace him, Johnston’s wise words and steadying ideas about our country will be with us for many years: Something to hold onto, in these divisive and rancorous times.