By Colin J Campbell

Op-ed commentary

As I was working on what subject to write about for today, I was watching the John McCain memorial service.

McCain was a great American, politician, leader, war hero and family man; he loved his country and believed in the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans. It was a moving and heartwarming support for the McCain family from all the participants.

For Canadians, at a time when our relationship with our neighbours has been taxed severely with trade tariffs and insults, it is important for us to remember that the people of America are our friends. In many cases family and that they are suffering through this period of political upheaval just as we are.

It is not the average American who is attacking Canada. We need to continue to love them and take the time to share their grief. Let’s be the good neighbours we have always been and support them as they sort out their current political problems.

Former President Barack Obama, who gave one of the eulogies at the McCain memorial service, said it better than anyone. He described John McCain as a figure who cared about “self-government, our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, rule of law, separation of powers, even the arcane rules and procedures of the Senate,” a patriot who was always eager to “relish the good fight.

“Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today,” Obama said, quoting Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, McCain’s favourite book. “What other way to honour John McCain’s life of service than to, as best we can, follow his example?”

Let’s as Canadians take a lesson from President Obama and from Hemingway and make sure what we do and think today about our friends south of the border help to heal the rift rather than adding to it.

No matter what the outcome of the negotiations of NAFTA all Canadians and Americans alike will survive and eventually find common ground to continue to occupy this continent in harmony and peace.

– Colin J Campbell, CLU, CH.F.C. is managing partner of Guidance Planning Strategies Ltd. in Cranbrook. An independent wealth management firm, specializing in helping families and entrepreneurs create wealth and keeping it for generations.

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