Two Brilliant Points of Light
Within a few days of one another last week, Canadians woke to the news that two citizens pivotal to the health and sustainability of this world were recognized for their esteemed contribution.To hear Cal Stiller talk about it in the London Free Press, being awarded the Canadian Gairdner Award must have been some kind of mistake. Categorizing himself as an “ordinary” physician, he found it “bizarre” that he would be recognized in such a manner. I believe him, except that he’s just wrong. What’s ordinary about leading the Organ Transplant and Diabetes Research field? How many neighbours do we have who have received countless citations and qualify as a key innovator in the Canadian Biotech Industry? He is perhaps best known to Londoners as the founder of the multi-organ transplant service. We knew what he perhaps didn’t: brilliance and dedication are gifts to any community and recognition and appreciation ensue as a result.Then there’s Gordon McBean. Awarded the Order of Canada this past April 7th, this remarkable researcher can now add that distinction to his Nobel Prize, awarded as part of his key contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Currently professor at the University of Western Ontario’s Departments of Geography and Political Science, he had adroitly worked within both realms to bring his vast scientific knowledge to the political spectrum – a nervous task for any researcher competing for grants. Nevertheless, he had shown the kind of political courage all too rare in the research community. Why? Not just for the cause, but also for his grandchildren, whom he says shouldn’t have to grown up in a world leering from one environmental disaster to another.Both of these remarkable individuals work mostly in my riding. Either one of them would have made a far more effective politician than I, but let’s be thankful they followed other lights. The way we are behaving at present in Ottawa, we don’t deserve their dedication and advocacy ability in our midst. In following their own particular fields of expertise they have been elevated from local knowledge of their remarkable accomplishments to worldwide recognition as Canadians of a truly great stature. I’m humbled by their feats and inspired by them at the same time. The world now recognizes that London, Ontario is a very blessed place.