To Turner, public service was the highest calling
“Democracy doesn’t happen by accident.”
In his later years, every time former prime minister John Turner had an audience, he never failed to deliver that message. And his favourite audience, young people, inspired him the most. He knew what life had in store for them — he could imagine their inevitable triumphs and tragedies — and he believed that only a rich idealism could sustain them and keep a corrosive cynicism at bay.
I met John when I was just a boy. He was serving as Pierre Trudeau’s justice minister but, more importantly for me, he was the MP for Ottawa-Carleton where my father, Dalton Sr., was the Liberal riding association president. Years later, Turner liked to say: “You know, the premier’s father was also a Dalton McGuinty — he was one of my guys.”
Turner was an impressive guy with a firm handshake and a warm smile. You wanted to be around him. He made you feel good. More than that, when he spoke to you, he made you feel like you could achieve — not “great” things — but, more importantly, good things.
Over the ensuing decades, I rarely saw John except for the occasional party fundraiser. Our political paths never crossed. He retired from politics before I began. But life brought us together in another way.
As premier, living in Toronto, I would walk our dog in the park at the end of the street. On occasion, I noticed an older man’s laboured shuffle from his car to a nearby park bench where he would unleash his dog and light up a cigar.
One day, thinking I recognized him, I approached the stranger. “Mr. Turner, is that you?” He answered, “Well, who the hell else did you think it was?” That chance encounter kindled a warm and lasting friendship.
As Turner aged, it wasn’t political war stories that excited him. It was the future and our shared responsibility to build a good one. He felt a special responsibility to reach out to young Canadians, urging them to get involved in strengthening Canada and its democratic underpinnings.
The aging PM jumped at every opportunity to get his message out. He loved visiting colleges and universities, as well as high schools and even elementary schools. The older he got, the more fervent a champion of public service he became.
He was fond of saying that to whom much has been given, much is expected. As Canadians, Turner felt much had been given to us.
Turner believed the most important question young Canadians should ask of themselves is not what do I want from life? But rather, what does life want from me?
He felt our lives are best lived in service of an ideal, that we are at our best when we commit ourselves to the welfare of others, and that there is no higher calling than politics and public service.
The former PM rejected cynicism and individualism. He demanded both respect for our democratic institutions and our constant efforts to improve them.
His view of an ideal society is one that conjured up the feeling that we need one another, and that it is essential that we work, build and dream together.
I can’t recall hearing John talk about the importance of resilience, but he might as well have been doing so all along. For how can Canada possibly build a strong, caring and resilient society supported by a strong and resilient economy if we build on the shifting sands of a weakening democracy?
Look around the world. Do you honestly think parents living under authoritarian regimes are today looking forward to what the future holds for their children? They worry. And Turner believed we should worry, too. At least enough to never take our democracy for granted.
As age crept up on him, Turner spoke of how important it was for us to have close and meaningful relationships with family and friends. He also discovered the power of purpose.
In our later years, we need a reason to get out of bed in the morning. For the Right Honourable John Turner, there was no better reason and no higher calling than championing democracy and public service.