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Posts Tagged ‘David Johnston’
The Real Captain Canada
K&A was a proud corporate sponsor to a wonderful evening this week to celebrate Canada’s new Governor General David Johnston.
The event was in Kitchener Waterloo, and the crowd was as Canadian as they come. Former Prime Ministers, federal and Provincial Cabinet Ministers, provincial members of parliament, local politicians from across Canada, actors and myriad other celebrities made up some of the crowd of almost 1200 who came to honour the man who has inspired many Canadians.
David Johnston has touched the lives of so many in Canada and really is the essence of what a Head of State should be – selfless and for and of the people. The Prime Minister made a wonderful choice for certain and it was evidenced by the exuberance of those who attended the celebratory event this week marking it as an event for the ages.
Local businessmen Tim Jackson and Rob Caldwell dreamt up the event and in less than two months it was a sell out with a waiting list of another 400 people who wanted yet could not get tickets.
Celebrating David Johnston is easy – he is such a worthy candidate for accolades. More importantly, though, it’s his love of Canada and his remarkable energy towards young people that inspires them to strive to do the best that they can to make Canada a global powerhouse.
David Johnston is now the Governor General and I now know the Governor General. This is personal for me. David Johnston and I worked together on a Board, we conspired on fundraising efforts and we hang (or until recently hung) with the same crowd. He’s always been an inspirational role model to and for me.
To all of us, the Governor General will now be more than ceremonial. In fact, the role, in practice, has the constitutional gravity to allow the Governor General to weigh in on important issues framing how we are governed as Canadians. The Governor General is our link to our own history as a nation founded on a constitutional monarchy and ensures that as a constitutional monarchy, we can rely on appropriate advice by a learned head of state – the GG. David Johnston is an expert in these matters and, as such, is a choice we will all learn to appreciate given the fragile nature of our parliament today.
Captain Canada is a moniker we give to those who more than wrap themselves in the flag and who instinctively promote all the good Canada has to offer – and with Canada there is much to celebrate. David Johnston is a terrific choice, it’s a terrific honour for Canada and a terrific celebration of a Canadian who typifies all that IS Canada in the twenty first century. What a guy!
- Marc Kealey
New G-G the picture of health
The appointment of David Johnston has certainly attracted opinion from Canadians. I am one Canadian who heralds his appointment as progressive. David Johnston represents energy and dynamism. He represents the adage that 70 is the new 50. After all he spends the greater part of his waking days hanging around thousands of young people in a university setting — that keeps anyone young and current.
One need only spend an hour or so with David to gain an appreciation of how regimented he is about his physical fitness, his love of Canada, its people and its future. I’m sure when Canadians get to know David as they most assuredly will — they will acknowledge that this governor general will likely go down in history as the most energetic. I hope we can keep up with him.
Read this post at the Toronto Star.
- Marc Kealey