As a young man growing up in Bavaria (Germany) Christian Nafzinger realized that he and his family were different than the other people in their community. They were outsiders and were looked on with suspicion. The laws of the time (1788) made the things they believed in as Amish Mennonites a “threat” to the powers that ruled the area and most of Europe. At 12 years of age, Chritian already knew what it meant to be hated because he was different and on occasion he let his imagination dissolve the weight of “now” for a time and place that were more friendly and free.

He was almost 40 and had long ago forgotten about his dream of freedom from persecution when a rumor, then confirmed reports became known that there was cheap land and no persecution in North America. He strongly advocated for investigating the opportunity on behalf of his brethren. In 1821, Christian Nafzinger set sail for the United States in what would become a long and difficult journey toward his dream of freedom. On arrival in Pennsylvania, the prospects of cheap land he had hoped for were buried in an avalanche of complications. Prices had escalated dramatically and opportunity to settle there was not within financial reach for him or his community.

Many of the newcomers were, however, heading for Canada where a settler could get 50 acres of land if they built a house and cleared the road frontage. They could also lease another 150 acres then purchase it at a fair price after 7 years. When Christian arrived in Upper Canada in 1822, he saw that the land was good for farming and he immediately applied for settlers’ land for 70 Amish families in the “German Block” of present day Wilmot Township. His dream of freedom from persecution seemed like it could become a reality.

He never thought that he would ever leave his farm near Munich, nor had he dreamed of clearing land and building his future in another world. But the prospect of freedom was a very powerful force in his life, and time and opportunity were intersecting in a way which could not be ignored. Some of the settlers arrived in Canada as early as 1824. Christian and his family arrived in 1826. It was a very difficult beginning. Clearing the land was time consuming and hard work but their hope was for prosperity and the eventual ownership of the full tract of 200 acres of land. Like most pioneers (forerunners), they invested everything into building up their farms; however, all around them things began to change.

The prospect of cheap land for settlers was not overlooked by speculators who purchased land but did not settle it. They were wealthy industrialists who planned to make a profit on land by buying it up and then selling it to settlers at increased prices. For some reason, authorities had “forgotten” about the requirement to settle the land. What further exacerbated the situation was that the 150 acres they had leased and were expecting to buy had been given to King’s College (University of Toronto) which was now asking very high prices for the land. Furthermore, they had not received title to their 50 acre homesteads and therefore were unable to participate in meetings which concerned landowners. The situation was critical. Christian and his neighbours had cleared and begun to work the land but now feared that they may never own it. What had happened in Pennsylvania was in part happening here. The injustice which took them out of Bavaria was happening to them in their new world. Was all of this a big mistake? Some settlers thought so and left for Pennsylvania.

Questions, shock, and uncertainty can immobilize a person when they first come face-to-face with the reality of a difficult situation. Eventually, however, Christian settled on a plan. He decided to confront the situation and expose the injustices. They had cleared the land and now were entitled to it at a fair price. With the support of the other settlers in the area, Nafzinger challenged the practice of land speculation in the township in a letter to Peter Robinson, Commissioner of Crown Lands – a bold move.

Instead of backlash, Robinson commissioned surveyor Samuel Street Wilmot to investigate and report on their complaints. Christian and his settler friends were not very popular. They had confronted an injustice and exposed a deficiency in the administration of the land, but what was at stake was their freedom, their hope, and their dream.

Sam Wilmot’s report was not a “white-wash” but a head-on assessment of the problems that the Amish and other new settlers faced. He wrote in his Feb. 11, 1830 report: “ …..a number of lots, the greater part of which are not occupied, the trifling expense of the settlement duty to open the roads and pay the survey fees amounting to about five pounds enable the moneyed men of Waterloo to hold lots much to the injury of poor persons who wish to become actual settlers in Wilmot, an evil the Inhabitants are desirous to be checked, as such proceedings retard the settlement of the Township….and that those persons who appear to have located lots for the mere purpose of speculation should be called upon to settle them immediately and in the case of their failing to do so, that they should be considered forfeited and given to actual settlers…..the settlers of this Township are desirous to purchase the remaining 150 acres of their respective lots for which they had a promise of a lease, and are willing to pay a fair valuation.”

The report was a turning point in the settlement of the township and in the lives of the settlers. Justice prevailed but only because Christian and the other settlers confronted the situation and called upon the authorities to correct the wrong that was being done to them and others.

Although Christian wrote the letter, the support of all the settlers was equally as important to their success. Christian Nafzinger was a forerunner and a leader whose sacrifice, vision, and values helped bring his people into their dream of a life without persecution. Not all the settler’s requests were immediately resolved but by standing for his values and vision Christian made an important contribution to the betterment of his family, the Amish and his community. Christian Nafzinger died in 1836 at the age of 60 and is buried in Wilmot Township.

Ian Graham of Kitchener is an example of a forerunner who has perceived the “season” we are in and has moved into it. He is the only son of a man who ran a successful insurance business but decided to move to Manitoulin Island and get off the grid. He bought a property with no hydro, but it did have a waterfall. He built a hydro-electric system to generate electricity for their satellite TV, lighting, and some of the heating.  He was a forerunner – living a forerunner life.

Ian followed his father’s innovative lifestyle and applied this same creativity to his love of music. He was traveling the country as a singer and musician and realized that one of his greatest expenses was fuel. He began investigating alternatives and settled on buying a diesel van which he could run on discarded vegetable oil (deep fryer oil). The research and the conversion took some time but the benefits of driving for free outweighed the time spent. Even though his fuel costs are zero, he has recently installed a hydrogen cell which uses electricity to convert water into hydrogen, a clean and powerful fuel for diesel or gas engines. A typical forerunner, he is interested in finding new and better ways to do things.

In the old economy, jobs have been more important than innovation, efficiency, impact, and effectiveness. We have avoided change in order to keep things the way they have always have been (safe), and it has backfired on us. Our intervention in the natural process of change has brought us to collapse. In a truly free market, innovation and creativity are rewarded, not seen as threats. The new economy will dramatically change our lifestyle and our values. Consumption has been the engine of growth; however, that has proven to be counter-productive in the big picture. Oil companies create jobs but healthcare costs skyrocket. Conservation will drive the new economy. Through reduction of consumption a new economy will emerge. Ian Graham has reduced his consumption, and the net result for him has been the freedom to make other choices. The less it costs him to live, the more freedom (time and money) he has to do what he wants – innovate, create, and build.

Ian has begun growing his own food in his basement and outdoors. He has been converting his recording studio to solar power. He has built his solar panels and innovated a sun tracking system to improve efficiency. He has been able to do most of this through cooperating and networking with other like-minded forerunners who have helped, advised, and cheered him on.

Getting off the grid means reducing our dependency on others for the important things in life. Most of our life we spend working for what we need to live. By being self-sufficient, we can create more freedom, money, time, and choices in which to live our life. The new era will reward conservation and innovation and penalize unbridled consumption. The sooner we learn this the better off we all will be.

For Ian, this has been a journey of discovery and problem solving. He was helped by others who were themselves on this journey. You may choose to get off the grid in some other way, but whatever it is, there is likely a group of people who can help you reach your goal to make your life more free, safe, and efficient in the new economy.

In the meantime, I would like to inspire you with the potential of moving into this new economy through a film which we consider at the Forerunner Project a “Forerunner Classic” and an award winner at our Forerunner Film Festival last fall – Garbage Warrior. Michael Reynolds has been building “out-of-box” sustainable housing for 30+ years. He is a forerunner who looks at life quite differently than most. He is a very interesting person with interesting values and ideals. We are considering bringing Mr. Reynolds to Waterloo Region for the Forerunner Inspire Festival in November, so please send us your comments, and suggestions.

Recommended viewing: Garbage Warrior – ask your local video retailer or visit the film site at: http://www.garbagewarrior.com/

Paul Weigel

Your comments and suggestions are needed. Email me: paul@paulweigel.com  or visit our web site at www.theforerunnerproject.com

After university, Mark volunteered with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) working with young offenders who were on parol. A year later, a full time job as a parole office became available. One of his responsibilities was to direct and guide a group of MCC volunteers who worked with the offenders. In their regular meetings, they often discussed ways in which they could make the programs they offered more effective for the offender and the victims of crime. The idea of loving your enemies came up occasionally and it became the lense through which they began to look at the justice system and the objectives of their programs in an entirely new light. It was May 1974 and the focus of one of their discussions became two youth who had gone on a destructive rampage in Elmira, slashing tires and breaking windows. The group challenged Mark with the idea of having the young men meet and talk to the victims and hopefully discover how their actions had impacted them and the community.

This had never been done before so there was no provision or precedent for recommending this kind of “solution” in the pre-sentencing report Mark was preparing for the judge. Several of the volunteers strongly encouraged Mark to add a letter to the report which would recommend this new approach. They wondered if it was even legal, but they believed that this would offer the offenders and the victims reconciliation. To Mark and the MCC volunteers’ surprise, the judge, without any previous cases of this type of reconciliation on which to rely, agreed that the victims and the offenders should meet. It became a landmark decision and the “Elmira Case”, as it has become known, is regarded internationally as the beginning of  “restorative justice”.

Mark and the volunteer group had discovered a solution that they perceived intuitively, but now they needed to understand the underlying principles of their idea of “loving their enemy” and be able to communicate them. The justice system’s main premise was to come up with a punishment which was equal to the offense as a deterrent to re-offending – hence the scales of justice. The group began to see that this approach often got in the way of dealing with the underlying causes from which a person had committed the offense. It also did little for the victims who had been violated and traumatized; consequently, the re-offend rate was exceptionally high. The group also discovered that even though 90% of the accused pleaded guilty, most of the offenders would try to minimize their responsibility for their actions in order to reduce the punishment. The punishment was supposed to be the deterrent to repeating the offense but when it became the main focus of justice, it became a barrier for people when taking responsibility for their actions. Punishment was also ineffective in deterring crime when the root causes were drug and other addictions – which were the most common cause of people offending and reoffending.

Although Mark and the MCC volunteers believed they had a better solution, change is always a slow process. There were many encouraging moments and some moments when circumstances challenged their belief in what they were doing. Two things helped them persist. Mark met weekly for breakfast with several like-minded friends who encouraged him and became a sounding board for his ideas and concerns. They helped him by simply listening and giving him feedback. Every forerunner needs friends to be their “mirror” so they can discover and rediscover their ideals and from them develop their ideas.

The second thing that helped was the formation of the non-profit agency “Community Justice Initiatives” (CJI), which gave a name to what they were doing and helped expand the concept of restorative justice into other communities. Through CJI they also were able to develop specific programs for unique types of crimes such as sexual offences and elder and child abuse and neglect. CJI also made possible the freedom to experiment, evaluate and quickly respond to the effectiveness of their systems and processes to improve their results.

In the Waterloo Region, an unequaled number of offenders (70%) now meet their victims. Our Region has been a forerunner in restorative justice and has been a leader with unprecedented success. Scores of former “clients” of CJI have written to them over the last 20 years to commend this program as having “saved their lives”. They believe that taking responsibility for their choices and coming face-to-face with the impact of their actions have dramatically and deeply changed them.

Another ground-breaking innovation has been CJI’s programs which engage both the offender and victim in the restoration process. Contrary to the expected, victims often want to help offenders recover. They have a vested interest in seeing that others do not become victims as they did. This process has become healing for both parties as they work together toward redemptive solutions that get at the real cause of the crime.

The process of change has been slow. It is human nature to want an eye for an eye, even if it doesn’t produce the desired results. There are tough-talking opponents to restorative justice who claim it doesn’t work in spite of the success stories and the far superior re-offend rate of the program. It has also become fashionable for politicians to appear to be “tough on crime” which usually means increasing punishments in spite of the dismal results that produces. Thankfully, it hasn’t discouraged Mark Yantzi who has seen first hand the successes of the program.

In spite of the naysayers, this process has redefined the word “justice” based upon the idea of “loving your enemy”. It has been a 35 year journey for Mark, CJI, and his MCC volunteers but they have laid a foundation from which others can also build, create, innovate, and reform our justice system. Restorative justice programs now exist in communities across Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand, Africa, and Scandinavia. Although there are opponents and challenges, the concepts have proven viable, productive, and effective for many types of offenses.

Mark Jantzi, CJI, and the MCC volunteers have reformed our justice system to the benefit of our community and for victims and their offenders. They and the Waterloo Region have become known world-wide for their contribution to the justice system by being forerunners in restorative justice. Mark has recently retired from his administrative role at CJI, and like most forerunners, he is looking for new ways to implement and spread his ideas to make our world a better place.

Paul Weigel

Mark Jantzi is the author of “Sexual Offending and Restoration” (Pandora Press) and co-author of “Three Paths to Healing”. Both books are available through Community Justice Initiatives (www.cjiwr.com). He was also a Kitchener City Councilor and member of the Waterloo Regional Council from 1982 – 2000.

The word revolution may seem to be misused here because it brings to mind men with rifles storming a fortress; but revolutions are going on everyday in the quiet of offices, schools, and businesses. Every time someone revises the way of doing something to improve efficiency and effectiveness, there is a mini revolution. Revolution is change which comes by force. It is human nature to resist change; therefore, most change comes because it is forced upon us, and that is revolution.

In a previous column I outlined how technology is the leader in social revolution. Technological advancements change the way we live our life, then this new lifestyle changes how we perceive our life. In other words, new technology forces social revolution.  Although technology leads social innovation, it is not the foundation on which change is built. It is the cultural industries which create an atmosphere of creativity, flexibility, and innovation in a community on which other forerunners “feed”. The atmosphere or the “vibe” (short for vibration, a term commonly used by jazz musicians) is the catalyst for creativity and creativity and innovation are the foundation of enterprise and the prerequisite for wealth.

Art and music create the vibe of a community. A vibrant local arts community builds an atmosphere of “possibility” and is critical in attracting forerunners who are the main agents of change, innovation, and new enterprise. Their motivation is increased exponentially by the synergy of coming together with many forerunners in one place. The greater the public expression of creativity in a community, the greater the motivation to create is expressed by the community.

Good art causes us to look at everyday objects in entirely new ways. It challenges the boundaries, breaks the rules, and expands our boundaries to include ideas and perceptions that have not been previously considered. Art is a celebration of the capacity of humanity to create, build, and innovate. It interprets our emotions, our hopes, our failures and when it is successful on a personal level, it inspires us to aim higher, dig deeper, and break out of our self-induced limitations and think broader.
Good art lifts us out of the “way it is” into the realm of possibility. It challenges us to ask “why” and answer the question with, “why not”.  Art IS the foundation of the economic health of a community – it is not the other way around. The arts community creates the vibe for forward, innovative thinking, and it attracts forward-thinkers to the community.

One of those forward-thinkers is Isabella Stefanescu – a founder and forerunner in our arts community. She came to the Waterloo Region on a mathematics scholarship from Romania. She had, however, been identified as a gifted artist as a child and had also been trained in visual art. In 1994, recognizing that visual artists required community, collaboration, and inexpensive studio space, Isabella and a small group of artists formed Globe Studios. The not-for-profit group has enhanced the viability of the arts and artists in our community, but not without a great deal of risk taking and personal sacrifice. The upside is that the existence of Globe Studios has made possible the proliferation of a local expression of visual art in our community, by making it a viable industry for artists. The existence of this artist cooperative under the Globe Studios banner has been inspiration for many arts assistance programs and numerous arts expressions, galleries, and events within Waterloo Region.

CAFKA
The Globe Studio success was not only inspiration to other arts groups but also an incubator for new ideas within art. One of those ideas became CAFKA (Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area – pronounced calf-ca). Artists and forerunners in general who are in the business of creating are challenged by the human tendency to undervalue local artists and overvalue those who come from far away. For local art to exist it must first have local support; therefore, the premise that you must be accepted far away to be accepted at home is a dead end street for all but a very few artists. Local art is an expression of who we are and best tells our story and is, therefore, most valuable to us.

CAFKA attempted to address the problem of resistence to local artists by taking the creation of art into the market place. The public creation of art and artist talks in unexpected locations and in unexpected ways was bold, effective, and it impacted the community in many ways.  The festival has become one of the most important art events in Ontario and a forerunner for many other public art creation festivals. The taking of art and artists to the community has been an important step in building an “art culture” within the region, and it has contributed to the community’s image in the minds of Canadians, as well as built the vibe. From its success has come the Open Ears (music) Festival, New Hamburg Live and numerous other music and arts festivals, theatre companies, galleries, and music and arts events all of which contribute to the wealth of our community in numerous ways.

It is the artists which lead their generation and every generation of artists must find an effective way of impacting their peers. Isabella Stefanescu and her colleagues at the Globe Studio are forerunners. Their vision, sacrifice, and persistence have helped build the arts community and has in turn contributed to the economic and cultural wealth of our region. All the artists and arts organizations in the Region are building the culture of innovation and change, and that is valuable to all of us. The appreciation of the arts and the importance of their role in the health and wealth of our community has been largely underestimated by the community. Artists and their contribution are interconnected to our economic, social, and cultural welfare. They deserve our support and honour for their important contribution to our region.
For more information about Globe Studios, visit: www.globestudios.org or CAFKA Visit:
www.contemporaryartforum.ca and New Hamburg Live www.newhamburglive.ca
© Paul Weigel 2009

Over the past ten months we have looked at forerunners engaged in everything from humanitarian relief and fair trade, to transmitting a handshake over the internet, building a public utility, and bringing electricity to our community. Although these forerunners have been active in a broad array of activities, they have had a common motivation – their ideals and their ideas.

Some of the forerunners which we have profiled knew and understood exactly where they were going before they started their journey. Others started without a clear picture of where they were going only to discover their path as they journeyed. They all solved problems as they moved forward and in spite of the obstacles which are common to any project, they found ways to overcome them. Some projects required flexibility and the adjustment of priorities and objectives along the way. But common to all was their belief that their goal was attainable and worthy of their best effort.

Forerunners live looking forward, and they are inspired by ideas. They are deeply affected by injustice. They are not “fence-sitters” but passionate about issues. It is this passion which gives them the focus and unyielding persistence to take on the problems inherent in creating, reforming, innovating, and building a dream.

Forerunners are often misunderstood. They have an ability to see and focus on problems because they are problem-solvers; however, because of this, they are sometimes viewed as negative or trouble-makers. Forerunners believe they are helping by bringing attention to problems and pushing for solutions because they understand that problems will eventually hurt and possibly destroy the project. Instead of being considered committed contributors, forerunners are often seen as disloyal, aloof, or destructive by those who don’t understand their motivation.

Forerunners prefer influence over power, and work well in roles as advisors.
They sometimes lack people skills, as in the case of Sir Adam Beck. He developed a number of enemies which could have been avoided by communicating to people how they could benefit from joining him rather than fighting him. Beck was a skilled and fearless fighter, so he put less value on winning people to his side, but this proved to be a costly mistake.

Starters not Managers
Forerunners are very good at starting a project and taking it through the early stages of development, but when it becomes established, they look for a new challenge. Larger projects are best served when forerunners stay engaged and a manager is brought in to oversee the day-to-day work. The pace of change has increased so dramatically that an organization’s survival depends on re-visioning on a continual basis.

Organizations that fail to understand the importance of fresh vision fail to lead in their sector. When managers replace forerunners, vision can become the victim, and it is the beginning of the end of the organization. Projects which are lead by a group of equals who respect the talents and abilities of each other are best suited to excel in the new economy. In the past, “forerunner unfriendly” organizations (the walking dead) could survive for decades with no new products or ideas, but today, lack of vision will kill a company in a few years.

Becoming Forerunner Friendly
Creating a forerunner friendly organization demands a respect and appreciation of ideas. Not all ideas are “keepers” but all ideas have value because they lead to more and better ideas, and ideas are critical to surviving in this new era of unprecedented change. Many leaders see problem identification as a slight of their leadership rather than an effort to fix the problems that are hindering the effectiveness of the organization. Becoming a forerunner friendly organization requires putting aside ego and making problems and solutions a high priority.

The best ideas often come from the most unlikely sources. People who see the problem from 10,000 feet often have a better perspective than those who are engaged in it. Every idea must be evaluated on its merits, not its source.

Being a forerunner friendly organization requires clear communication that ideas are the seeds of change and that the  future depends on how well its workers generate and evaluate ideas, and that everyone is responsible to make the organization better. A separation between management and workers is a costly mistake for any organization if it hinders the flow of ideas that will make the company or project better.

The Value of Ideas
In the past, people believed that “ideas were a dime a dozen”. They placed more value on money than ideas. There is far more money than there are good ideas. That, in part, has been caused by the devaluation of ideas and an over emphasis on the value of money. It has diminished progress in our nation and the world. Ideas are risky but in the new economy new ideas are the only way forward. Safe, secure investments paying big returns are few and that’s why most of today’s wealth is currently in cash. Investing in people who you know and trust builds our communities. Investing in multinational corporations drains financial and human capital from our rural communities and kills them.

Our Community
Communities founded on industries which are no longer relevant in the new economy are in imminent risk of dying. Most rural Ontario towns are void of economic, social, and cultural life. They have been left behind by the world and the people who could reinvent them. They need to be re-founded on a new premise, and that takes ideas. It requires the bringing together and stimulation of forerunners. The original founders had a vision which birthed economic prosperity for a time, but now our communities must be re-founded. People must work together to find a new competitive advantage from which to build their future. We have all been hurled unwillingly into unavoidable change. The future of our communities is dependant on our ability to discover our place in the midst of the current changes. We must re-launch our businesses, communities, and our country with innovative ideas, passionate persistence, and visionary leadership. Our future depends on it.

The Regehrs were greatly influenced by what they had seen in Africa. Perceptions were still being influenced by the second world war. A nation’s status in the world community was connected to the size and power of its army. Much of the world’s resources were being poured into building military systems by both the Communist block, “the evil empire”, and what the US called “the free world” nations, while there was little awareness or concern for poverty, education, or health care.

For the Regehrs and a small group of forward thinkers, the proliferation of nuclear weapons on both sides of the Iron Curtain was a course which could only lead to the annihilation of humanity. The US had already used nuclear weapons, and the arms race and cold war had raised fears and mistrust to an all-time high. Policies based on “You’re either with us or against us” only served to polarize people and escalate the tension while minimizing the only thing that really mattered – our humanity.

On their return to Canada, the Regehrs founded Project Ploughshares with the belief that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, biological, and chemical) would result in their eventual use. It wasn’t a very popular point-of-view at the time, but it was an obvious conclusion for them. Project Ploughshares began to promote the notion that the world could not fight for peace, peace had to be built. The doubters wondered if peace could come through disarmament or was that a dreamer’s dream?

Project Ploughshares, although small and seemingly insignificant, was passionate and well informed through their network of like-minded co-workers (on the ground) in nations around the world. They made it a point to support their arguments with hard statistics and information which wasn’t readily available elsewhere. This approach earned them credibility and an opportunity to make presentations to the Standing Committees of the House of Commons and Foreign Affairs.

In the early 80s, the nuclear buildup had brought the world to the brink of disaster. It was a turning point for the peace movement. People saw firsthand that building weapons that could destroy all humanity would not make the world a safer place. Throughout the European nations there were millions of people in the streets protesting the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Ronald Regan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in Iceland where it is believed they came very close to an agreement that would ban all nuclear weapons. Their advisors, however, seemed intent on preventing that. The peace debate around disarmament and militarism became even more polarized and heated.

In the 90s, Project Ploughshares and the peace movement were able to convince leaders to ban the use of biological and chemical weapons and the testing of nuclear weapons. The collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991 put their arsenal and expertise up for sale on the world market. For the first time non-state “players” (terrorists)  became a realistic threat to world peace. The potential for a small group to build a nuclear weapon and use it became very real. It was a turning point in the quest for peace. It helped to impress the need and urgency among leaders and at the UN for nuclear disarmament and regulation as a key component in peace-making.

Although there has never been a more dangerous time in the history of the world, there has also never been a more hopeful time that leaders will agree to lay down their weapons. Former hardline militarists such as Henry Kissinger, George Shultz (Regan administration) and others now support a full nuclear weapons ban. After 30 years of pursuing peace through disarmament, Project Ploughshares and others believe that a world-wide ban of nuclear weapons, the regulation of the production of the components of these weapons, and the regulation and sale of conventional weapons are within reach. There are fewer wars today than there were 30 years ago and there is realistic hope that nuclear disarmament will be achieved in this decade.

Today is remarkably like the 70s. From every country, social strata and domain, a new generation of forerunners is rising who are passionate about poverty relief, education, social justice, and corporate responsibility.  They are motivated by hope, enthusiasm, and vision to transform our world. The challenges they face are no less daunting, yet every bit as possible to overcome. Wisdom would say that their strategies for change-making be built upon the lessons learned by their predecessors because they probably don’t have 30 years to achieve their goals.

The Regehrs have invested most of their working careers building peace by educating the public and advising leaders. They had a vision of a world without nuclear weapons and they have worked persistently over 30 years to make that vision a reality. They have poured their lives into making a better and safer world for all of us. They and other forerunners from around the world have worked to not only change the policies of governments, but also to teach us about our humanity. They have taught us that there is no “us and them”, there is only “us”.  If we can “get” that one simple idea, we will have moved a long way towards overcoming the problems of the world.

Paul Weigel

Project Ploughshare’s Canadian office is in Waterloo. Their web site is: www.projectploughshares.ca

Ira Needles was the president of local tire manufacturer B. F. Goodrich and a well regarded, forward thinking community leader. He believed that Canada and the region were in desperate need of literally thousands of professional and skilled workers in order to maintain their position as leaders in manufacturing. The growing demand for new products in post war Canada would require designers, engineers and skilled technologists. It was an enormous challenge but the community had spawned and attracted people of vision and determination in the past and through creativity and innovation had built a prosperous economic and social foundation. Needles was one of those visionaries and he had a plan that would change education in Canada forever.

Needles’ long time colleague and friend, Gerry Hagey, had left Goodrich to become the first layman president of Waterloo College. The challenges they faced were many but the big hurdle was that Waterloo College was operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada, and it was ineligible for provincial funding. The scope of the need and their plan demanded they find a way to access provincial funding.  The answer was found in establishing a separate corporate entity which was associated with Waterloo College but separately governed and therefore able to access the provincial funding they needed. A lot of skilled negotiation was required to get everyone to the table. Hagey, and Needles in particular, relied on flexibility and a keen ability to listen and deduce what were the important issues for each group. When necessary, they revised their plans but for the most part they infected others with enthusiasm for the vision which made cooperation appealing and mutually advantageous. Ira was trusted and regarded in the community and he had a gift for uniting people around a common goal – the traits of a true leader. Together, they had an intensity of purpose that all the stakeholders believed in without reservation.

Much of the work of getting everyone on side was in selling Needles’ unique approach to education.  It was carefully devised and constructed to improve efficiency – something an industrialist was concerned with. His plan was to integrate study and intern work terms in order to almost double the number of students they could teach at one time. The semestered system would have the facilities in full operation 12 months of the year. It had been done before in the US but it had only been modestly successful to say the least. The idea was new to Canadians and it was met with skepticism and a flurry of “concerns”. Needles, however, saw the potential of the system to quickly expand the student population and increase revenue, making possible higher salaries and thereby attracting the best teachers. The plan would also provide for more research time and private study for the faculty. This would be a key component in defining the University as a leader in science and engineering.

On July 1, 1957, one year after Needles’ speech to the Rotary Club, Waterloo College Associate Faculties (soon to become the University of Waterloo) launched a profoundly world impacting educational endeavor with a class of 74 engineering students.

The dedicated work of Needles and his team revolutionized education in Canada. They have trained hundreds of thousands of students which has contributed to the economy of our region, our province, Canada and the nations. The “Waterloo Plan”, as Needles called his innovative ideas about education, was the foundation from which the University built its reputation as a world leader in science and technology. Through its success, it has become a centre for innovation and creativity in technology which has led to the founding of numerous world class high-tech companies in our region. The University has brought prosperity and recognition to our community as visionary leaders; and it has brought people from all over the world to enrich our lives and our country with their talents and culture. Even for a forerunner like Needles, what the University of Waterloo has accomplished was beyond his wildest dreams.

Needles, by the enthusiastic claims of his colleagues, was the spark plug that led to action. He was the statesman who took the high road and whose guiding hand, integrity and respect made a new way of thinking about education viable. He was an innovative thinker and a skilled leader. He won the trust of his team, the community and politicians and because of that he was able to lead us all into a new era. He didn’t seem to care who got the credit for the team’s accomplishments but as a skilled forerunner I suspect his greatest pleasure was in seeing his dream come true. Ira Needles was born in Iowa, but became a Canadian citizen. He died in 1986 at the full age of 92. The community has recognized his contributions in many ways, the most notable in the naming of Ira Needles Boulevard. Ira Needles was a forerunner who saw what could be, and with the help of other visionaries, built this dream for everyone’s benefit.

For more information about Ira Needles and the University of Waterloo, see: “Of Mud and Dreams” – James Scott, and or “Waterloo – The Unconventional Founding of an Unconventional University” – Kenneth McLaughlin (available at the Waterloo Public Library).

Paul Weigel

As a young boy growing up in Brantford Ontario, Garfield Mahood discovered his talent for sales. In university, he became fascinated with the principles of social change. In his budding career, his passion for justice emerged. He had been engaged in the fight against the Vietnam war, and later he took on environmental pollution in an era when activists were seen by many Canadians as threats to order and progress. But forerunners don’t measure the value of their objective by the opposition to it. They are “wired” for overcoming and they prefer to follow their own path. Garfield Mahood’s life, however, took a definitive turn when a young nurse decided she needed him to advise her in the founding of her campaign for non-smokers’ rights. He was reluctant at first to take on another battle but her persistence was remarkable, and the potential of the challenge inspired him. In 1976, when the budding group was just 2 years old, Garfield became their Executive Director. The challenge was among the biggest that any activist group had undertaken. In order to be successful in their mission to educate people about the known but suppressed dangers of smoking, they would have to take on the entire tobacco industry who were spending billions of dollars to hide the truth about smoking from the Canadian public.

It may have seemed to be overly optimistic to make the industry their target but it was the industry that Garfield and others insisted was the problem. The tobacco industry’s operating structure and tactics have been compared in court to the mafia. Scientists have deemed their products to be more addictive than cocaine and more deadly than heroine. Numerous times it has been proven that the industry has lied to the courts, deceived the public, and subverted regulators about the known dangers of their products and their tactics to get people, particularly young people, to use them. For these reasons, many people believe that the tobacco industry is not a legitimate industry. The result of the use of tobacco world-wide has been more than 50 million deaths – the biggest genocide in the history of mankind!

In the early days of the non-smokers’ rights campaign, it would have been an exaggeration to call this a David and Goliath battle. Garfield was the only employee and periodically the organization didn’t have enough money to pay his salary. On several occasions, he lent money to the association to keep it going without knowing if, or when, it would be possible to pay him back. The tobacco companies, on the other hand, were spending millions of dollars to openly promote the use of tobacco. Furthermore, television, radio and print media were hostile to the group’s message because they were the recipients of millions of dollars for advertising campaigns, and they were reluctant to “bite the hand that was feeding them”. The chances of success would have seemed slim in the eyes of any rational person; however, the size of the battle didn’t overwhelm Garfield, nor was he depending on the naysayer’s for their predictions of the likelihood of his winning this war.  Year after year they persisted, expanded, and built their case before the Canadian people. They educated the public, bureaucrats and politicians about the growing mountain of proof that tobacco use is the cause of numerous health conditions and premature death. It was a landmark when scientific research supported what they had learned from personal observation. Second-hand smoke was 6 times more dangerous than inhaled smoke, and people were at extreme risk when being exposed to it.

Attitudes about smoking and second hand smoke began to change. Scientists, researchers, and soon forerunner politicians were no longer afraid to say what they knew was the truth – but that was still the beginning. Until the public was aware and concerned about the problem, there was no political will to change the laws to protect non-smokers or to make smoking less appealing.

The stones they were throwing at Goliath seemed to be relatively harmless but they threw them with deadly accuracy. They proposed increased taxation on cigarette sales which angered some smokers, but discouraged many others from smoking. This proved to be among the single most effective strategy. It was so successful, the tobacco companies resorted to smuggling cigarettes into the country to avoid the impact of high prices. In 1999 the City of Toronto’s ground breaking ban on smoking in restaurants and later all public and workplaces was a milestone victory for non smokers’ rights and public health in Canada. The ban spread across the country and around the world. Toronto has recently banned smoking in cars when children are passengers and are considering a ban in areas where children play. The earlier bans on advertising and the warnings on packages also contributed to the incremental reduction in smoking over the past two decades from 50% to 19%.

When Garfield began this war, his small team seemed to have little chance of success. They drew very little attention, but with success came other problems. On a trip to Argentina to speak about tobacco use, his life was threatened. He was warned not to cause any problems for the industry. Later, confiscated files from a high ranking tobacco industry executive revealed that blackmail had been contemplated as a way of “neutralizing” Garfield. In some countries, fighting against the tobacco industry is a very deadly business.

The battle isn’t over. Tobacco smuggling continues to be a problem, and the glamorization of smoking in films is an area of concern. However, countless millions of people have been rescued from the deadly effects of smoking, and there are numerous legal proceeding in Canada against the tobacco companies to reclaim damages to public health. In spite of the struggles, uncertainty, and the risks, the 30+ year battle has been rewarding for Garfield . He and his team have accomplished more than they ever dreamed. Canadian attitudes toward smoking have changed. Our policies on tobacco control have been the forerunner of smoking regulation around the world.  That is in part due to Garfield and his team and others like him who have fought long and hard for justice and the truth about tobacco. He is an exceptional forerunner who has built, served and overcome. In May 2007, Garfield Mahood was awarded the Order of Canada for his contribution to justice for non smokers and public health in Canada.
(C) Paul Weigel 2009

Discovering The Model
When Edna and her husband got back to the US, they began selling the arts and crafts they had brought from the island. Soon they were contacting their friends in Puerto Rico for more products and eventually they contacted other MCC projects in other locations, for products as well. Edna was beginning to see how work for fair wages could transform a community, and as she communicated the impact people could have by selling these products, they began joining the cause. They started selling the crafts at community events, church bazaars, and even home parties. The sales of products doubled then quadrupled. I am not sure how it happened, but I can imagine that one day, with a garage full of boxes and the neighbours wondering what was going on, Edna realized that this work was bigger than she was – she needed help. MCC was the perfect candidate to take over the importing and managing of the day-to-day operations. The amazing growth the work had experienced produced many benefits, but not without its trials.

….Making THE Difference!
Entering a new chapter in the work’s growth produced new challenges that tested both their values and their determination. The main premise of “SelfHelp Crafts” was to partner with artisans to build the community by offering work for fair pay; however, large retail companies observed the demand for indigenous products. Their drive for profits caused problems in the communities in which MCC was working. They offered the artisans large orders and sometimes cancelled them if they thought trends in American had changed. Some promised huge orders but left the producers to figure out how they would finance the material costs and equipment and then never reordered. Most workers didn’t understand how they should price their work leaving them vulnerable to profiteers. In contrast, MCC viewed their work as a long term partnership in developing the community. They began lending up to 50% of the cost of their orders to the artisans and also taught workers about pricing. They further helped them to form cooperatives to assist artisans and to get export licenses. With every “good” there is potential for otherwise. On a few occasions, funds vanished with individuals, leaving workers with nothing. Once an entire shipment was destroyed in a boating accident, without which the community would have become bankrupt and all that had been built would have been lost. In the “business” of making a difference, it is times like these that make THE difference. MCC absorbed the losses, learned, and persisted in creating opportunities for people to work for fair pay in communities around the world.

Buying Fair Trade is Voting for Your Values
About this time someone coined the phrase“fair trade” as a description of what they were doing. As forerunners in fair trade, MCC had demonstrated the value and potential of treating workers justly and showed that a significant number of buyers cared about those values, too. Fair trade became a popular movement which spread notably to the coffee and chocolate industries. Speaking with your money is one of the most powerful ways to make a statement in support of your values.

SelfHelp Canada
In the early 1980s, Herman Neff reorganized the Canadian operation under the name “SelfHelp Crafts” and established its head office in New Hamburg. The generous support of several local businessmen firmly rooted the organization in the area at a time when other locations were being considered. Their help and the vision and support of thousands of people for fair trade have been some of MCC’s  greatest assets. More than 2000 volunteers, many of them in the Waterloo Region, work to support the 50 retail stores across Canada. Sales have steadily grown to $18M in 2007 employing 110 full time staff. MCC workers in more than 30 countries mentor and assist the 120 artisan cooperatives that have been formed to employ more than 60,000 people. Of equal importance is the example that has been set, as MCC/SelfHelp has stood for justice and equality for workers and demonstrated to the world what can be accomplished by providing a means for people to support themselves and their families.

Fair Trade Towns
In 1996 “SelfHelp Crafts” became “Ten Thousand Villages” reflecting the objective of building communities through partnerships. Today, they are building on that premise by launching their new “Fair Trade Towns Campaign” which invites the participation of communities in 5 important ways. The campaign asks firstly for the support of community leaders including city council; secondly, the involvement of local businesses which offer fair trade products in their stores; thirdly, the engagement of groups who promote fair trade in their workplace, places of worship, and schools; fourthly, the support of local media; and fifthly, the development of a core group of fair trade enthusiasts who support ethical and sustainable initiatives within the community. This campaign has the power to transform our communities the way the opportunity to work for a fair pay has transformed hundreds of communities abroad. Shouldn’t our community be the first to support this campaign? If you believe it should, find out how you can help.

There are other ways to support the work of MCC and Ten Thousand Villages. Their stores in Waterloo Region are located at 80 King Street, South in Waterloo, and 65 Heritage Drive in New Hamburg. You can also make purchases from their web store at: www.tenthousandvillages.ca. Volunteers are always welcomed and there are opportunities to host events which feature fair trade merchandise. Contact the store nearest you for more details.

Send Your Ripple Of Hope Through The World!
Edna Ruth Byler was a forerunner but no one would have figured her as such at the time she began her work. Neither would they have imagined the passion her uncalculated actions would spark in people who caught her vision. She discovered the model, but many forerunners built the vision. Edna’s greatness was hidden in her sincere desire to help others. It was this that made her a candidate to ignite a bigger than self contribution to humanity. It was the seed which grew into a powerful force that sent, and is sending ripples of change and hope throughout the world. Edna’s life and that of thousands of her co-worker who followed their heart is an example to us that every one can make a difference.

I welcome your comments! Do you know a forerunner?  Send us an email at:
paul@theforerunnerproject.com

Paul Weigel is the founder of the Forerunner Project, a non-profit corporation dedicated to research and education about forerunners. For more information on the Forerunner Project and its monthly Forerunner Inspire Film Series visit: www.theforerunnerproject.com
(c)  Paul Weigel December, 2008

Over the past 100 years, the wolf has been villianized as a threat to farm animals, pets and humans. Fear of them has been the justification for the near annihilation of the species with the approval of the government agencies which are mandated to protect our wildlife. The wolf plays an important role in the balance of nature yet it has been exempt from protection even as some sub species have become extinct in North America. Why is the wolf so hated?

In 1970 John Theberge was one of the University of Waterloo’s newest professors. He had been hired because of his extensive knowledge of wolves. John began his “wolf life” as a high school student doing research for Dr. Douglas Pimlott, Canada’s leading expert on wolves and one of the most vocal advocates for conservation of the environment and wildlife. In the mid 70s, Dr. Pimlott and his grad students had been banned from Algonquian Park as punishment for critizing the government’s policies on logging and conservation of wildlife in the park. Twenty years later, John Theberge would experience the same injustice in an attempt to silence his public plea to save one of the most important wolf populations in North America.

One of the unique aspects of the Algonquin Park wolf population is that it is one of the most pure strains of wolves on the continent. Wolves will interbreed with coyottes in certain circumstances. A trap line could in one night kill an entire pack leaving the territory open for coyettes to move into. Eventually, inbreeding will result. But the protection within the park helped to keep the population from interbreeding and these wolf packs were the last and best example of a pure wolf in North America.

Over the years John and his wife Mary tracked, observed and became familiar with many of the individual wolves in the park. They were as familiar with their traits, personalities and habits as any of their co-workers and even their family. Their “Predator and Prey” studies revealed the wolf’s importance to the stability of the wildlife resource in the park and in Canada. Time and time again wolf packs would follow migrating deer outside of the park and be senselessly destroyed by hunters or trappers. Nothing was more disturbing than to find an entire pack killed by the cruel and painful neck choke trap-lines often set up just outside the boundaries of the park. No doubt the hardest part of the Theberge work was discovering that the wolves they knew, loved and were studying were killed just because they were wolves.

John and Mary believed that if protection for wildlife in the park was to be effective it had to include the townships which surrounded Algonquin Park. Their proposal would have brought the protected area for wolves in Canada to 3% of the country. In spite of the meager plan, the Ontario Anglers and Hunters Association and the Ontario Trappers Association opposed any additional protection for wolves. The Ministry seemed unmoved by the killing of wolves and disregarded the research which showed that the wolf population within the park was threatened. Furthermore, they would soon prove to be the Theberge’s worst enemy.

In 1987 about 50% of the cost of the Theberge’s research was funded by the Ministry. From that position of power, they demanded that the research project be changed to focus on only one pack instead of the whole population of wolves. That was impossible at that point and made most of the research they had done of little value. They realized they had to find another source of support which wouldn’t try to manipulate the research. The World Wildlife Fund of Canada, a private charity, recognized the importance of the Theberge’s work and provided the needed funds. They had succeeded in eliminating the government’s interference, but only for a time.

John and Mary continued to speak out about the destruction of the wolves and the habitat in Algonquin Park. The government responded by trying to stop the research.
While the Thebergs’s were away, a conservation officer in the park approached 2 graduate students and confiscated their research notes. They eventually returned the notes but had used them to determine that the team had collared a bear which the Ministry asserted was a violation of their research mandate. The President of U of W intervened but to no avail until the Theberge’s lawyer was able to prove that the collaring had been authorized by another office of the Ministry – check! He also encouraged them to consider how the Ministry would appear to the public if one department testified in court against another – checkmate!!  They dropped the charges.

John was a scientist and never imagined he would have to direct a battle like a general. The fight between the conservationists and the government had become an all out war! The government had resorted to what is known as the 4 D’s. First, they Denied there was a problem. When they couldn’t deny the facts any longer, they Delayed taking significant action; and when that didn’t work, they tried to diminish the momentum by proposing a compromise to Divide the group. As a last resort, they tried to Discredit the Theberges. The war had reached the discredit stage.

The Ministry took the position that the Theberge research was flawed and unreliable. To counter this attack on their credibility, they invited scientists from all over North America to review and analyze their data. The scientists confirmed that without intervention the wolves would disappear from the park and it was only a matter of time.

The Ministry was losing, and losing badly, but they did succeed in wearing out John and Mary. They needed a change, so and in 2000 they moved to B.C. to undertake a new research project. They had no idea when they left who would take up the fight or if they  would win the war for the wolves. But an unexcepted event turned the battle in their favour. There was a provincial election in 2003 and the McGuinty government came to power. Unknown to the Theberges, someone had shown Mr. McGuinty a neck snare that was legal in Ontario but outlawed in many other countries and he was moved by the cruel destruction it could bring. They also didn’t know that the soon to be Minister of Natural Resources, David Ramsay, had read John and Mary’s book, Wolf Country.
In 2004, Minister Ramsay announced a permanent ban on the killing of wolves in the townships around Algonquin Park. It was an unexpected victory but a hard fought battle which had taken more than 30 years.

The Theberges thought they were tired of fighting, but apparently they were wrong. In B.C. they have launched a movement to establish the first National Park in the province. They promoted a 20,000 person petition and are writing another proactive book in the continued fight to end the destruction of the wolf population in Canada and in the US. They are passionate and compassionate forerunners. They live by and for their values and have given their lives for something important to all Canadians. They have also taught us to fight for right, the beauty and value of all of nature and to accept our duty to protect it.

In the overview, it appears that the Theberges didn’t choose this battle, it chose them. But once engaged, they fought it well. They were uniquely positioned, prepared and equipped for the battle. It is not over yet. Their opponents have recently asked for a review of the law. In the long view of history, however, John and Mary Theberge will be remembered as timely visionaries who led the fight for justice for wildlife and the environment and as forerunners of conservation in Canada.

For more information about the Theberges and their work check these resources -  Book: “Wolf Country: Eleven Years Tracking The Algonquin Wolves”, Web site: www.wolfstudies.ca, Video: “Language of Wolves” by Canadian Geographic, and their new book: “Life Support – 17 Major Themes of Conservation” to be released Spring, 2009.