‘Go where the puck’s heading’: Red Wilson donates $5 million to McMaster’s Future of Canada Project
Many deep thinkers will contribute to the new and grandly named Future of Canada Project at McMaster University, but the $6 million initiative is only possible because of a guy named Red who enjoys invoking a revered hockey dad philosopher.
Wayne Gretzky's dad advised him to go to where the puck is heading, not where it is," says Lynton Wilson, who has long been known by the nickname bestowed for his vermilion-hued hair back in the day.
The university announced that Red Wilson, philanthropist, 1962 Mac grad and former chancellor of the school, is donating $5 million toward the project, and his alma mater is contributing another $1 million.
Its purpose is cultivating collaborative research in areas ranging from the arts to sciences, and attracting input from those beyond the campus's stone arches to explore ideas that will impact Canada's future.
Threads likely to be tugged over the three-year span of the pilot project include everything from envisioning the future of our democratic processes, to the road ahead for public health.
This is why Wilson enjoys quoting Walter Gretzky's axiom about the value of vision.
We face challenges in terms of how quickly things are changing, in technology and climate change, the family, the role of social media, and we need to think more about where we are heading," Wilson told the Spectator.
And then the pandemic added a whole new dimension of where the puck is heading."
Investing in McMaster's future is hardly new for Wilson: he has gifted more than $25 million to the school, supporting initiatives on the arts and Canadian history, and in 2007 donated $10 million to build L.R. Wilson Hall, home to the faculties of social sciences and humanities.
Individuals will have opportunities to apply for funding to undertake research under the umbrella of the project, guided by a council of 11 thinkers with a variety of expertise and chaired by McMaster alumnus Samantha Nutt.
A physician, author and founder of War Child Canada, Nutt studied in the combined arts-science program in the early 1990s. That interdisciplinary flavour is part of what makes the project unique, she suggested.
We have a diverse and dynamic group of people and I'm excited about digging into it with them to shape questions that will drive curiosity about the big issues," she says. We talk about Canada's place in the world, but this is about drilling down into an analysis of what that means, and where it's likely to go."
As for Wilson, who is 81 and lives in Oakville, the project is the latest endeavour for one who has led the life of a Renaissance (and resume) man.
He worked in Canadian diplomatic postings in Vienna and Tokyo, held corporate positions with companies from MacMillan Bloedel to Nortel, and was a recipient of the Order of Canada and the Vanier Medal for public service.
Perhaps the hardest he ever worked was summers as a teenager for his father, a veteran of the First World War who owned a flour mill in Port Colborne, where Wilson grew up and was first called Red.
He says this new project is about imagining ways to protect democracy, nurture leadership, and achieve our fullest potential," and is pleased it's in Hamilton: Not everything has to be centred in Toronto and Ottawa."
Wilson clearly enjoys hockey metaphors, but also played football at McMaster.
Hopefully the university will make some big yardage out of this project," he says.
Jon Wells is a Hamilton-based reporter and feature writer for The Spectator. Reach him via email: jwells@thespec.com