The Canadian mosaic—planning for shared partnership in a national network

Originally, I assumed my role at this meeting was to provide an observation on the Ontario library network. When I was asked to broaden this perspective to the Canadian scene, I was somewhat hesitant. I have neither the national position nor the national authority that Alphonso Trezza commands. Whilst I was relieved to discover that I was expected to consider ‘not what existed’ but ‘what was needed to be done’—the additional phrase ‘from the national point of view’, hardly encouraged an enthusiastic response. It merely confirmed my view that there are very few people who understand a Canadian's dilemma.