Obama kicks off Canadian speaking tour to sold-out crowd at Bell MTS Place

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This article was published 04/03/2019 (2192 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former U.S. president Barack Obama took part in a hopeful, often humorous hour-long conversation in Winnipeg Monday, during the first stop on his Canadian speaking tour.

The 44th American president reflected on his eight years in office, how his family is doing post-presidency and what gives him hope for the future – youth, whom he tries to meet in every city he visits – during a conversation with Michael Burns, the chief executive officer of the Toronto-based Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.

“This generation is remarkable. And part of what I try to do is to give them hope by reminding them that as challenging as these times are, and as much bad news as we get streamed into our brains every single day, that if you had to choose any moment in history in which to be born… you’d choose now,” Obama said.

“Because for all the problems we face, the world is fundamentally less violent, better educated, healthier, wealthier, more tolerant, more inclusive than any time in human history,” he said, adding:

“Now admittedly that’s a low bar. We should take pride that we’ve advanced a lot since Genghis Khan. But it’s important to keep that trajectory in mind.”

There was no direct mention of Donald Trump, though Obama did allude to how he used to make policy decisions when he was in the Oval Office based on “facts,” “logic” and “science”; an indirect nudge at the current president who has been known to rely on “alternative facts.”

Asked about his past dealings in Canada, Obama said he had “terrific relationships” with prime ministers Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau, though his views more often aligned with the current PM.

He mused about many past conversations he had on Canadian issues, like timber, where he had little skin in the game.

“Can’t somebody else solve this? I’ve got Afghanistan, Iran, climate change. Timber is what I’ve got to talk about?” Obama remembered jokingly, spurring laughter from the audience.

“Well done. You’ve just insulted us and we all laughed,” Burns replied.

The evening was a virtual trip down memory lane, with dozens of photographs of Obama during his time in office plastered on digital screens around Bell MTS Place. There were shots of him and his family, him and vice-president Joe Biden and snaps with celebrities like Betty White and Kid President Robby Novak.

The evening started with introductions from Free Press editor Paul Samyn and Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce chair Scott Sissons, who reminded the audience of a famous Maya Angelou quote:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,” Angelou famously said.

“President Obama made us feel hopeful in times of tragedy,” Sissons said.

The early 2000s nostalgia was in overdrive as about 13,500 fans pored into the arena for the sold-out show.

On her way in, Joy Loewen told the Free Press she and her son were looking forward to hearing a positive message from “the best orator of all time.”

“It comes at a good time,” she said of the speaking tour. “There’s probably no bad time to ever see or hear from him, but I love the fact that Winnipeg is the first stop. He just has that message of hope, that ‘yes we can.’ It still lingers, it’s still relevant.”

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @_jessbu