Even as people were streaming into FNB stadium last week, even before the memorial to Nelson Mandela’s life had begun, one of the defining elements of the day was reverberating through the stands.

The day included powerful and moving tributes by family members, clergy and world leaders, but it was watching a South African artist sing Nelson Mandela’s name — and hearing it echoed back to her in the voices of some 60,000 South Africans singing in unison — that stayed with me the most. Part love song to Mandela, part prayer. It moved me literally to tears. The simple act of repeating the man’s name in song as a way of saying goodbye to him, and yet still holding on to his promise and hope.

Mandela understood how to create a moment, and seize it. He knew the power of a shared experience, and how it could inspire people to be more forgiving, to be more united, to be better than they ever thought possible. Mandela knew that his country needed nothing less.

A visit to the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa helps explain why. It’s not just the grim details of the horrors that we all remember, or the well-known tragic cases like murdered student activist Steve Biko. What stands out are the reminders of the daily dehumanization of the apartheid regime.

For me, it was the gargantuan armoured personnel carriers, hundreds of which once lined the streets of South African cities. Our guide pointed to bullet marks on the inside of the vehicles’ bulletproof glass. Police would invariably claim that prisoners had attacked them while under arrest. These hulking urban tanks are an emblem of the depth and physical scope of apartheid repression.

That was the scourge that South Africans had to overcome, and that was the scale of forgiveness that Mandela had to ask his people to give. But Mandela knew that in a shared moment — of song, of poetry or even sports — anything was possible.

South Africa is a miracle — a miracle of forgiveness and a monument to the power of acting together for the greater good. Canada has to help South Africans continue their work to rebuild their nation, but we also have to learn from it.

Travelling with the Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Shawn Atleo, I was reminded of the scale of some of the problems that still confront Canada. Recognizing the rights and realizing the aspirations of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Restoring Canada’s place on the world stage and taking a leadership role in the fight against climate change. Reversing the decades-long slide felt by middle-class families and making sure that we’re not the first generation in our country’s history to leave our children and grandchildren with a lower quality of living than we inherited from our parents.

These problems aren’t as stark as those that faced South Africa two decades ago, but they are greater than any one party and any one government. They stretch around the world and across generations. They sometimes seem insurmountable. But what Nelson Mandela’s life teaches us is that when faced with great challenges, people can not only rise to meet the occasion; they can exceed their own expectations.

Sitting in the midst of the lush surroundings of the hotel where our delegation was stationed, on the last day of our trip, I struck up a conversation with two of the gardeners who tend to the grounds. They wanted to know about the ceremony the day before. I told them it was remarkable; they apologized that it hadn’t stopped raining. I said it was heaven crying. They roared in approval. We laughed.

Just a moment, a shared moment. But Nelson Mandela reminds us that in a moment, anything is possible.

Thomas Mulcair is the Leader of the Official Opposition and the federal New Democratic Party.

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