We must decide what to do with the time given to us

By Michael Giles

Nov. 3, 2026

In the J.R. Tolkien book Lord of the Rings, there is a dramatic exchange between Frodo and wise old Gandalf.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” Frodo says, to which Gandalf replies, “So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

There are many, particularly the young, who in our time echo these sentiments whether in direct terms as enunciated by Gandalf and Frodo or more incidentally in nature.  

We occupy a period in history where the strongest country in the world is led by the weakest of people. They are devoid of any sense of understanding of history nor are they apparently seized with any commitment to ethics, compassion or empathy.

Across the world, lack of leadership or vision has led to broad wars, regional conflicts, crises of all kinds and general unrest that has transformed the world into a place of unparalleled uncertainty mired by economic challenges that seem to only grow by the day and social angst that expands across borders and generations. 

While leadership is a major contributor, or lack of it, so also is the enduring fractures that emerged during the pandemic. Many academics argue that the societal fractures always existed prior to the pandemic but that vast displacement and disorder that accompanied it have now endured and are entrenched as challenges that seem to mystify leaders across the spectrum.  

We wrestle with myriad issues, including housing affordability and supply, cost of living pressures, fuel prices impacted by far-off wars, a trade war with our biggest trading partner, unstable leadership within the most powerful nation on earth, and the list goes on. 

However, we would be wise to listen to what Gandalf remarked in the midst of clearly troubled times, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

And not to sound too philosophical, but that is precisely the point we must focus upon.

We will not surely solve all the great problems facing us in the short term; some will need time, perhaps generations, to alleviate. But there are things we can do.

For good or bad, the leader to the south has given Canada a wake-up call and we have responded. We have a leader who is moving with haste in a way not seen since the Second World War. Indeed, most leaders across the country are aligned with the need to act in ways we have not in almost 100 years. 

Among the great challenges of our time is the issue of housing affordability and supply.  Having been on a RESCON mission to Alberta this past month, it is clearer now than ever that there are many things we can do “with the time that is given to us.” 

In Ontario, we need a wartime effort to reduce the challenges to building new homes. We must permanently eliminate exorbitant taxes, fees and levies, confront and remove process issues that delay projects needlessly, simplify planning approvals, crush ridiculous bureaucracies that perform like Soviet-era monoliths, and just do what needs to be done to advance one of the two most important things people need to thrive (the other being food). We must make housing within reach to everyone by ending the housing affordability and supply crisis. 

I started this column focusing on the vast issues of our time and they are hard to solve.  Housing is a vast issue, but it is truly not hard to solve if the will, courage and tenacity to implement solutions is embraced. If we do, then truly we will have used well “the time that is given to us.”