DIPLOMACY

(02,23,2023) Diplomacy is described as tactful dealing with others, according to the old Random House Webster’s dictionary, which also states diplomacy as the conduct, done by government officials, of negotiations and other relations between nations. However, if one were to look up the word ‘diplomacy’ in a more recent Canadian dictionary, the new following quotation should read, ‘to emulate Hazel McCallion’. Every Ontario premier, for the last fifty-five years, would attest to the fact that Hazel McCallion was simply the most diplomatic politician in Canadian history. Hazel was laid to rest, recently, on Feb. 14, which would have been her 102nd. birthday. She was an exception to the rule that ‘only the good die young’. Each Canadian Prime Minister, for the last fifty years, eventually got to know and respect Hazel as ‘a force to be reckoned with’. Thusly, she was affectionately referred to as ‘Hurricane Hazel’. I never had the pleasure of knowing Hazel personally. But, my wife had the good fortune of making her acquaintance approximately sixty years ago, when Hazel was contemplating going into politics. My wife was hired to babysit Hazel’s children around the time that Hazel decided to become a new member of the Streetsville Planning Committee. For the past few decades, every time Hazel’s name was mentioned on the news, my wife would fondly recall moments spent in Hazel’s presence, and she can attest to the fact that Hazel was the nicest person that one could ever hope to meet or befriend. Hazel soon went on to become Chair of the Board and then Deputy Reeve of Streetsville, Ontario. By 1970, she had become the town’s mayor. And, in the years that follcowed, she had sat on every committee at the Region of Peel and the City of Mississauga, as well as many federal and provincial committees and associations, until she became President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, from 1978 to 1979. Hazel was the first mayor to submit the city’s annual budget to the public so that residents could scrutinize it and give their input. She was also one of the first mayors to commit herself to the ‘pay as you go’ philosophy. As a result, the city has not had to borrow money since 1978, and is, to date, debt free. In the 90’s, Hazel McCallion established the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Mayors’ Committee, where she brought together 30 GTA mayors and, later, the Chair of Metro Toronto and four Regional Chairs, to work together for the betterment of the GTA. The list of committees, to which she belonged, since then, is almost infinite. I could go on forever! Suffice it to say that Hazel’s efforts benefitted every person, in every region of Southern Ontario. That is just one of the many reasons for which she was chosen as ‘Woman of the Year’ in the ‘Who’s who’ of (North) American Women. Her list of honours has too many to name here, but, one can easily find them in any online article about the woman. They attest to Hazel’s tenacity. I was amazed when I viewed Hazel’s very long list of credits, memberships and established committees. Not surprisingly, she was nominated, in 2006, as World Mayor of 2005. Unfortunately, she ended up as the runner up to the Mayor of Athens. But, her accolades and accomplishments speak to the driving force of this tiny dynamo! Her wisdom and guidance, along with sage advice, encouraged many women who would follow in her footsteps. Every politician, not just in North America, but across the globe, could benefit from Hazel’s example. Today, there should be a required reading requisite for politicians, to review a book about Hazel McCallion, and learn from it (with a mandatory test to follow) about how to deal with one’s peers diplomatically, and show empathy for the people who put you in charge of their welfare. Hazel understood all of us common people and sympathized with our needs. Her compassion knew no bounds! Sadly, when I look around at the state of affairs in the world, today, I cannot help but feel regret over the loss of a world class champion. Hazel was, literally, a voice for the regular people, one who would fight, tooth and nail, for the good of others and for our rights, while ensuring that our interests were at the forefront of municipal affairs. It is unfortunate that Hazel never took her endeavours ‘further than the city limits’, as some people would have preferred, when they encouraged her to run for premier of Ontario, and later, possibly for Prime Minister of Canada. But, Hazel chose to remain close to home, helping those who were her neighbours and friends, the local constituency. Hazel would have taught world leaders a thing or two about diplomacy. But, that word has lost its effect on most of our leaders today. A very frightening red line (invisible though quite evident) is being drawn between the East and the West. Any diplomacy which North America had, in the past, with China, now appears to be non-existent. In their fight for economic supremacy, China is threatening to side with Russia in Putin’s war against Ukraine. It is Chi’s way of getting back at the North Americans for all the sanctions that have been placed against China. Meanwhile, the ‘little dictator’ in North Korea is ‘rattling his sabre’, firing off one test missile after another, in an attempt to show force and make it known to the world that he is also willing to go to war against North America, as well as all of Europe and the rest of the free world. And, in that event, North Korea would side with the other two communist nations, enacting the old adage, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’. Clearly, he is a madman who is quite willing to start a third world war, a nuclear war, in his support for Putin. But, to date, Putin has only threatened to do so. He is a strategist while Chi is an opportunist. As shocking as it may be, these three tyrants could forever change the face of the globe as we have known it. What is urgently needed, now, is ‘the voice of reason’ in this dichotomy!