The power of summer camp

KAMOURASKA, QUE.—I have always been a believer in the value of summer camp. I was a camper in the 1960s at Canada’s oldest overnight camp, the Montreal YMCA’s Kamp Kanawana. The camp was founded in 1894 in the Laurentians and has been on the same campsite near Saint Sauveur, Que., for more than a century. All three of my children attended Kanawana and went on to become counsellors and senior staff. Having enormous responsibility as young people shaped their character, challenged their leadership skills, and offered a bonding experience with other smart, dynamic young people with whom they have stayed in touch. My father was the first to attend the camp in 1928. He had returned to Canada after living seven years in Edinburgh, Scotland, where his father had been demobilized after the First World War. It was not a pleasant time: his father suffered from PTSD, his three-year-old sister died, and his older brother contracted polio. When my grandfather moved in with another woman, my grandmother left with their four children to Montreal. His two brothers quit school to support their mother. A neighbour who attended Kamp Kanawana decided to pay for my father to go to the camp. There, the teenager with the Scottish accent learned how to paddle a canoe and camp in the wilderness. He never forgot the experience, and was motivated by the neighbour’s generosity to give back throughout his life, by serving in the Second World War and in dozens of volunteer organizations into his 70s. The camp’s motto is Non Nobis Solum, Latin for “Not for Ourselves Alone.” And throughout its history, it encouraged campers and staff to be compassionate. One of the more famous alumni of the camp was the late broadcaster Stuart McLean, who attributed the power of camp for his success. He liked to describe how as a shy counsellor he discovered an ability to tell stories and entertain people at camp. He also pointed out: “I am not saying Kanawana was the best camp anywhere. But it was the best camp for me.” The stories of young people being transformed at camp are legion, and while the experience can be idyllic, it is also a challenge. While some people sneer at Justin Trudeau’s background as a camp counsellor, the late prominent Bay Street lawyer Jim Cade was said to have preferred applicants for his firm “who had been camp counsellors to ones with good grades.” When my son James was travelling around the world with his wife, working with NGOs, my father died at the age of 91. From far-off locations, James wrote, insisting we establish an award in his grandfather’s memory at the camp. He wanted it to recognize camp alumni who had contributed to their communities as my father had done. As my father’s nickname was “Pip,” it would be the “Pip” Award. When James died a year later, I reached out to his old camp friends and asked if they would support the award, in his and his grandfather’s memory. The YMCA agreed and we formed a board in 2007 to recognize extraordinary alumni with the “Pip” Award. Some alumni were well-known, like Stuart McLean, cartoonist Terry “Aislin” Mosher, and former Royal Bank CEO John Cleghorn, who said he learned everything about leadership, the environment, and people at the camp. Among the others were a former counsellor who encouraged the physically challenged to experience the outdoors, a world-renowned refugee expert, a woman who fought to her last breath for people with ALS, a pediatrician who battled child abuse, and a camper who died doing humanitarian work abroad. There is no money associated with the award, just a paddle with a plaque. Yet every recipient recognizes its importance. When COVID hit, the camp closed down and the “Pip” award went on hiatus. This year we are back, recognizing a Montreal doctor who served in the ER during the pandemic and who has been a pillar in the community. Summer camp may not be for everyone, but for many it allows them to discover aspects of themselves they didn’t know they had. We have a saying: “Wherever you go, whatever you do, you will aways be a Kanawanian.” For those who benefit from camp, one of the great legacies is a belief we should act "not for ourselves alone." Andrew Caddell is retired from Global Affairs Canada, where he was a senior policy adviser. He previously worked as an adviser to Liberal governments. He is a fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and a town councillor in Kamouraska, Que. He can be reached at pipson52@hotmail.com. The Hill Times