Differences have to be source of strength in society: Trudeau

Ahmedabad, February 19

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today said a heterogeneous society is the new reality and the biggest challenge is to understand how differences can become a source of strength — “something that India and Canada have done fairly well” and “can do better”.

Calling himself a “feminist”, Trudeau also said that “we as a society” are under-performing as women are not being given an opportunity to contribute to their full potential.

EDIT: Not-so lonely visit

He was addressing a gathering of students at the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

“The new reality of the 21st century is going to be a more and more heterogeneous community and society, and the biggest challenge we are going to have as a species is doing something that India and Canada have done fairly well — that is to understand how differences can become a source of strength,” he said.

Trudeau was replying to a question by a student, who asked that “when the global trend of nationalisation is on the rise, how does he wish to change the world further towards globalisation”.

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“One realisation that we all need to have is that we are witnessing more and more encounters with differences.

When we meet people who have different stories and background from us, we learn and grow and create a more resilient community,” Trudeau said.

“But the challenge around that is that identities start to break down. If you think of how typical citizens of France, South Korea or South Africa might look like, you might have certain images coming to your mind,” he added.

“As you get a more heterogeneous and pluralist society, the idea of typical citizens no longer rests on surface attributes like language, ideology. It is anchored, instead, in shared values, values that society collectively ascribes or subscribes to,” he said.

“We (should) define more and more through shared values that anyone from any part of the world can come and adapt to. That’s what we are doing in Canada. The definition of what it means to be a Canadian has nothing to do with what we look like, has much more to do with openness to fashion, openness to work, desire to be with each other, love for hockey,” the Canadian Prime Minister said.

This approach is something that a lot of society is struggling with, and they are turning inward to nationalism and protectionism, he said.

“India as a pluralistic place has always done reasonably well, and can always do better like we (Canada) can do better, particularly with our indigenous people,” he added. “We have to make a fundamental choice.”

Trudeau stressed that understanding that empowering women is not just the right or nice thing to do, but it’s the smart thing to do, is extremely important. “I am a feminist. It is a word with certain connotation, loaded with meaning, but at the very root of it, it is very simple. If you think man and woman ought to be equal... you are also a feminist,” Trudeau said. — PTI