• Age: 16
• Grade: 11

One of the world's most influential leaders discusses pluralism, democracy and Canada's potential for world leadership.

In Where Hope Takes Root, a collection of talks given over the past six years, the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims-a sizable number of whom live in Canada-sets out the principles that inform his vision of peaceful, productive societies. He returns again and again to the three cornerstones upon which his many years of work in the developing world are based: democracy, pluralism and civil society. Democracy, always fragile, must be nurtured in practical and flexible ways, he says. Pluralism must be embraced in both fact and spirit. And engaged civil society, which the Aga Khan defines broadly as including doctors' and journalists' associations, women's groups, social movements and village organizations, must be actively supported in countries around the globe.

His Highness the Aga Khan is the forty-ninth hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. He assumed the office of the Imamat in July 1957, making 2007 the Golden Jubilee of his spiritual leadership. The Aga Khan Development Network, a group of institutions and agencies, including non-profit hospitals and schools, is present in over thirty countries and works actively to eradicate poverty. One of the Network's recent projects is the Global Centre for Pluralism, which will be established in Ottawa in co-operation with the Government of Canada. The Aga Khan became an honorary Companion of the Order of Canada in 2005.

Aga Khan's profile page

Raised in Ottawa, Ontario, Adrienne Clarkson, was appointed Governor General of Canada in 1999 on the recommendation of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. In 2005 she was succeeded by Michaelle Jean. She went on to publish her memoir, Heart Matters, founded the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, and became Colonel-in-Chief of Prince Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

Andrienne Clarkson's profile page

"The Aga Khan says he knows his work will never end because humans are not natural pluralists, and the value of pluralism must be inculcated anew in each generation. But its rewards of peace, material progress, and social unity are worth the ongoing effort."

Regina Leader-Post

"A middling power can only smile when a world leader says not only that small is beautiful, but that that particular small country is not only competitive with the rest of the world, but in a leading spot. And the Aga Khan, leader of millions of Ismaili Muslims around the world, says that and more about Canada."

Ottawa Citizen

"The book, in which [the Aga Khan] characterizes Canada as a model par excellence of functioning democratic pluralism, is at once a medium for educating Canadians on who he and his followers are, and a charming ode to the Canadian way of life."

The Embassy

Where Hope Takes Root: Democracy and Pluralism in an Interdependent World