How Nelson Mandela found inspiration in Canada

The country that bestowed its highest accolades and even honorarycitizenship upon Nelson Mandela was often described by the legendaryfreedom fighter as a source of inspiration throughout his strugglefor racial equality in South Africa.

Mandela found sympathy in Canada for his cause when he himselfwas not able to fight for it, allies who supported his mission during his long incarceration, and adoring devotees who welcomed himas a native son upon his release.

Historians say Canada even served as a blueprint for Mandela whenhe finally took the helm of his country as president.

That feeling lasted until Mandela's death. South AfricanPresident Jacob Zuma made the announcement of Mandela's death at anews conference late Thursday, saying "we've lost our greatestson."

Scholars say Canada's appreciation for Mandela took root longbefore he had garnered global praise for his role in bringing an endto apartheid rule in South Africa and championing equality forblacks throughout his home country.

Linda Freeman, a professor of political studies at CarletonUniversity specializing in South African studies, said grass rootsanti-apartheid organizations began forming across the country asearly as the 1970s.

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Church groups, community organizations and Canadian chapters of Mandela's African National Congress mobilized efforts to resist theregime even as Mandela himself languished in prison serving a lifesentence for plotting to overthrow the government.

Their efforts to lobby both Ottawa and the Canadian businesscommunity fell on deaf ears for some time, Freeman said, addingprime ministers from John Diefenbaker to John Turner did little tocurb a prosperous trading relationship with South Africa.

Longtime ambivalence

"Canada had a long, very undistinguished record of beingtotally ambivalent towards South Africa," Freeman said in atelephone interview from Vernon, B.C. "The most we would dofor a long time would be to condemn apartheid in the United Nations,but staunchly support trade and investment. It was a fairlyhypocritical policy."

That changed when Brian Mulroney took power in 1985, she said,adding he quickly emerged as a vocal champion of Mandela's cause.

He broke ranks with other western leaders by loudly speaking outagainst the apartheid regime while imposing strict economicsanctions against the government, she said.

Vern Harris, Mandela's chief archivist and head of memoryprogramming at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg, saidthe freedom fighter was aware of Canada's growing support for hiscause during the 27 years of his incarceration.

"That solidarity meant a lot to the prisoners, it meant a lot to the organizations that were involved in the liberation struggle,"Harris said in a telephone interview. "I think there was a strongappreciation for that long before he ever visited Canada himself."

That initial visit was made mere months after he was finallyreleased on Feb. 11, 1990, although preparations had begun a few months before.

Zeib Jeeva, then an anti-apartheid activist in Toronto, remembers hearing from Mandela's African National Congress in London in late 1989 that they were organizing a Nelson Mandela Reception Committee to celebrate his eventual release.

Jeeva, who grew up in South Africa, and some friends soon set up a similar committee in Toronto. After organizing a celebration on Toronto's Danforth Avenue the day Mandela was released, they went on to organize his first visit to Canada.

Jeeva told CBC News that visiting Canada was a priority for Mandela, thanks to Canada's leadership under Mulroney in calling for anti-apartheid sanctions.

Phenomenal aura

Jeeba said his first meeting with Mandelawasunbelievable.

"The aura around him was just phenomenal."

Harris said Mandela made a point of acceptingMulroney's explicit invitation to visit as soon as possible.

"He was prioritizing countries which at that time had aparticular significance to the liberation struggle. Canada was wayup there as one of the first countries he visited after hisrelease," he said.

Harris and Freeman were interviewed for this story beforeMandela's death, when he was ailing.

Mandela's arrival on June. 17, 1990, marked the first of threevisits during which both parties fairly outdid themselves withoffers of thanks and praise.

Politicians spoke of Mandela's courage and convictions, whileMandela singled out Canada for upholding the values he hoped to seeespoused at home.

"Your respect for diversity within your own society and your tolerant and civilized manner of dealing with the challenges ofdifference and diversity had always been our inspiration," Mandelasaid during his first address to the Canadian Parliament.

Those words were not just idle flattery, Harris said. When Mandela was elected president of South Africa four years after hisrelease, he and his government aides made a point of scrutinizingpolicies and practices from other countries that could serve as amodel for an emerging democracy.

Canada, Harris said, served as a template in areas ranging fromeducation to water treatment to social policy.

"When he talked about Canada providing an example and aninspiration, it was based on really hard engagement with Canada'sexperiences," he said.

Mandela's opinion of Canada never publicly cooled during hissubsequent visits, during which he was lavished with some of thiscountry's greatest honours.

Rare honour

He was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, the highestpossible rank, during his second trip in September 1998.

For his final visit in November 2001, he became one of only fiveforeigners to be made an honorary Canadian citizen.

Adulation came from dignitaries and everyday people alike, withthrongs of supporters turning out for most of his publicappearances.

Mandela's popularity was most dramatically on display during the1998 tour, which saw him address a rally of more than 40,000schoolchildren in downtown Toronto. On that occasion, he heapedpraise on a new generation of Canadians.

"You have made me feel like a young man again with my batteriesrecharged," he told the rally.

"The greatest joy has been to discover that there are so manychildren in this country who care about other children around theworld."

Jeeva was one of the organizers of that event and said that now when he hears from someone who was at the event "they are almost adult now" they mention how Mandela left quite a mark on them. "They know about reconciliation, racism and stuff like that," Jeevasaid.

Still, Harris said the sunny relationship Mandela had with Canadawas occasionally dimmedby a passing cloud.

In his 2010 book Conversations with Myself,Mandela lamentedthe fact that Canadian police "roughly" ejected a heckler from oneof his public appearances in 1990 without giving him a chance torespond to her concerns.

Rude awakening

Interactions with Canadians also shed light on his ownpreconceptions, according to the book. Mandela wrote of his firstencounter with Inuit teens during a 1990 refuelling stop in Iqaluit (although the book incorrectly has the stop taking place in Goose Bay, Labrador), recollecting that he was surprised by their level ofeducation.

"I had never seen an Eskimo and I had always thought of them aspeople who are catching ... polar bears and seals," he said.

"I was amazed to find out that these were high school children.... It was the most fascinating conversation, precisely because itwas shocking. I was rudely shocked, awakened to the fact that myknowledge of the Eskimo community was very backward."

Occasional voices were raised in protest of Mandela's warmreception, notably then-Alliance MP Rob Anders who in 2001 blocked unanimous consent for a motion in the House of Commons on honorary citizenship for Mandela, reportedly telling two Liberal MPs Mandelawas a "Communist and a terrorist."

The vast majority of Canadians, however, regarded Mandela as ahero and rolemodel without peer.

Former prime minister Joe Clark summed up the majority Canadianview with his comments made the day Canada voted to officially grantMandela the status that would make him one of our own.

"With a flick of his wrist ... Nelson Mandela could havetriggered revolution and his country would be in flames," Clarksaid.

"He did not. He did the opposite."