My last year’s pre-Christmas column revisited historic words from Queen Elizabeth — her first Christmas message as Queen. This year, I bring more still-relevant words from Canada’s past.

Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, a Saskatchewan native, led his Conservative government from 1957 to 1963.  Affectionately known as “Dief the Chief”, he is well-remembered for his principled, if sometimes fiery leadership. He still has much to say to us about something that both Canadian tradition and Christmas have in common — the role of peace in a broken world.

Part of Diefenbaker’s term at Canada’s helm covered the frosty period that began in May of 1960 when a United States spy plane was shot down over Soviet Union airspace. The Cold War stalled East-West relations, and fear and suspicion ruled the day.

On February 14, 1962, while making a speech on the role of the United Nations in helping to thaw the Cold War, Prime Minister Diefenbaker repeatedly addressed the themes of brotherhood of mankind, peace and hope, goodwill and mutual respect between races and creeds.  He said:

“There is so much more that unites men of various races and religious faiths than divides them; so many more ideals they share than concerns that isolate them; so many common aspirations for the true and good; so many common values that are profoundly more significant than the prejudices that reveal the darker side of the man's spirit.”

He noted the obvious difficulty — one which has, sadly, continued unabated, though the countries involved have varied:

 “The race is now on between the achievement of human understanding and the explosive forces of fear and ignorance. The future of mankind hinges on this race. Moreover, this understanding must cover two great chasms: the ideological one between the Soviet and non-Soviet world, and the living standards gulf between the southern and northern peoples. The means at our disposal for building bridges here are not the same in each case although the most cohesive force available for all of these bridges is ‘Brotherhood.’”

In the same speech, he comments:

 “In the Judeo-Christian tradition, ‘Am I my brother's keeper?’ is our common biblical history. If man is to remain at peace, this concept must shape the global destiny for all mankind. We are striving to understand our common humanity in the face of threats to the species itself. Perhaps we can hope that common brotherhood will be recognized, sooner than we might have thought possible a few short years ago, as the only means by which mankind can attain its highest goal — the self-fulfillment of the individual in the image of God.”

That year, in his Christmas message, Dief stressed the holiday’s central figure:

“Despite sorrow and hope unfulfilled the message of the manger still comes to us across centuries to sustain our faith — the message of goodwill for all men and brotherhood for all creeds and races.”

Considering today’s many troubling worldwide conflicts, I stand with the Chief. May the message of Jesus Christ, born as a babe in the manger, sustain your faith, and bring peace to you and our world.

-30-

Christmas message, 1962:

The audio version of Garry's December 23, 2013 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here