The Parliamentary Struggle: Glen Pearson

I admire Glen Pearson for the work he did in Africa and his desire to bring change through politics. I see a lot of me in Glen and may be that's why I admire him.  For many years I  have been involved in issues related to poverty, women, children and empowering them through Education. I started the Canadian arm of Asha for education, a global organization that works on basic education rights and recently got involved in a more strategic project that focuses on building a sustainable program that can be mass implemented in several countries around the world, using e-learning networks.

My next step is to put together these learning's in impacting the lives of children in Canada and helping those who need that extra help in making themselves economically independent. We are going to partner with groups here that can share the learning and development and focus primarily on education related issues in GTA and First Nations using computer aided learning (CAL) and satellite Internet for remote areas.

I was the founding chair of the Young Professionals of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, 18 months after I came to Canada. There was a need for young professionals like me to network and since there was a void, I just jumped in to fill it. what made me do it? a desire to make this place better. Today it is a big bubbling group of young professionals with tons of events every year.

Our Music festival desiFEST, the largest of its kind in North America has helped us create ideas, that lead to the formation of UMA foundation, where our mission is to empower youth through music and we plan to start soon with projects in Scarborough, Jane/Finch and gradually move to other parts of Canada. Music has the power to unite minds and engage people in a way that sometimes brick walled classrooms fail.

People always ask how do I find the time do all these, my work, music festival in 3 cities, children's program, politics and what not.. and I look at say, I have never felt tired doing any of these, physically or mentally, in fact it is inspiring and makes me stronger.

Politics should be a passion, a driving force that you want to use to bring positive change towards humanity. It has to be the feeling, the urge, the desire to make an impact in the lives of millions of people, that rises from the bottom of your gut.  That's what drives me towards politics and I can bet you, that what got Glen Pearson.

I find it equally frustrating that it is very difficult to be principled and speak up against issues and still want to be a politician. I have been advised recently, that I can either be a politician or an activist, not both. Democracy was built to facilitate free speech, but in some way to be successful in a democratic process, one needs to mince words and accept the realm of political reality.

To me it is a constant struggle, battling between your principles, your vision, your hunger to bring change Vs political reality. A reality that I have come to believe in ,but when I see people like Barack Obama and Glen Pearson, it gives me the glitter of hope that Idealism is not necessarily a bad thing in politics with your ability to accept it in the form it can be used in real life politics.

Here is a note Glen Pearson wrote , that I want to share with you.

The Parliamentary Struggle

"I am still new enough to Parliament that I view it through something of a detached lens. I watch the bitter partisanship that so often substitutes for political discourse and I feel the same sense of revulsion expressed by voters.

There has clearly been an alteration of tone and civility in this most hallowed of political chambers in Canada. All parties must share the responsibility and much of the blame. Something is slipping and it’s becoming obvious. Seasoned politicians and journalists have claimed that it wasn’t always this way; it has been primarily the last two years in which decorum in the House has sunk to significant lows. A certain moral and intellectual strength is ebbing away. The field of once blooming ideas has withered and Canada is slowly losing its way, its national will, and that deep and abiding sense of purpose that once brought this nation together and held it in place despite our numerous differences.

It’s probably easy for anyone reading these lines to understand that I’m something of an idealist. But I am an idealist without illusions. Great issues are debated in Parliament and partisanship actually does work for the greater good – but only when points of view are held in respect. We can’t always agree, but we can choose to respect the other views, realizing they come from genuine public servants attempting to represent the hard-won convictions of their own respective communities. In my short time here I have witnessed many politicians from all stripes attempting to honorably live out their sense of purpose.

It is when things turn mean or personal that our sense of a higher, more noble calling suddenly takes a nosedive. The public good must regularly trump rank partisanship, lest the political system itself become little else but words and reasoning always falling on deaf ears."

Comments

[Savia R]

It's refreshing to note that idealism isn't a Utopian dream in today's cynical world. I wish there were more politicians (and activists) who approached their work with similar zeal.

[dr.shamira]

Bravo to you for embracing all of your endeavours with such passion - the drive for positive change is one I can relate to -its always a push-pull between our altruistic principles vs. reality - but it sure makes the journey interesting!