To survive everything that Nelson Mandela survived, and still have faith in humanity as he does, might seem near impossible. The humility that Mandela has maintained through his lifelong struggle, is startling. A mentor and a teacher, a survivor and a hopeful, Nelson Mandela is highly regarded by everyone.

Last Friday Mandela ended his whirlwind visit to North America in Toronto, visiting Canada for only two days. Last Thursday evening he received the Order of Canada in Ottawa at Rideau Hall. It was the first time the award was ever given to a foreign leader still in office. Day two was spent in Toronto, where he was given a hero's welcome by over 50, 000 children at the Skydome, made a speech at a business luncheon, suffered exhaustion, and then attended a dinner given in his honour by the Prime Minister. Chretien did not hold back in his praise. At the black-tie dinner he gave in Mandela's honour at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, he went to the podium before over 500 guests. "I want you all to raise your glass," he said, "and make a toast to the greatest human being in the world today: Nelson Mandela." It seems everybody loves Nelson Mandela.

And for good reason. After all, the man dedicated his entire life to ending racial oppression in South Africa, for which he spent over 27 years in jail. He fought for the equal rights of all South Africans, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, sharing it with then South African President F.W. de Klerk. He successfully led the African National Congress (ANC) to form the first democratically-elected government in April 1994, and became State President of South Africa one month later. That year he also launched the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, a program to help the disadvantaged children of South Africa, committing one-third of his salary to the fund.

One would be inclined to assume that anyone with half of Mandela's credentials would be fully arrogant, completely pretentious, and totally beyond hope. And then there is Nelson Mandela, who had the audacity to say, "When I see the support that I get in cities I visit, like here in Toronto, I do not know what I have done to deserve this merit." He added, "all I can say is that this is not a tribute to an individual, it is a tribute to a country."

Nelson Mandela is not a politician or a businessman by nature. He's simply a peace-loving activist, a humanitarian who dedicated his life to ending apartheid in South Africa. This has been established. However, Mandela has inherent economic interests in both Canada and the US.

One of the major events marking Mandela's North American tour this September, was his public support for Bill Clinton. The U.S. President is in the middle of the largest scandal of his career, and the political implications of his affair with Monica Lewinsky are threatening his presidency. Surprising the world, Mandela made a public speech last Tuesday, extending his support for Clinton and making international headlines.

Critics claim that there is an easy explanation for Mandela's move. Mandela is visiting North America for the first time since he became the President of South Africa. This voyage is not a holiday; it's a business trip. Mandela is trying to increase North American investment in South Africa, and the U.S. dollar is worth more than ever. South Africa's currency, the Rand, has plummeted to a low. Many see it as being in Mandela's best interest to support the most powerful man in the world: U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Sergio Marchi, the Canadian Minister of International Trade disagrees. When asked at Friday's business summit whether Mandela was supporting Clinton so he could encourage increased U.S. investment in South Africa, he responded hesitantly. Half grinning, Marchi responded, "It was a lot more personal than that. It was personal. Few people can have the moral suasion that Mandela can. I think that Clinton is a friend, and that he's going to support him when he needs support. I think it's a personal thing. I don't think it was political at all. I think it was a personal thing."

As much as Marchi attempted to cast Mandela's move as personal and unrelated to his economic interests, the Minister did not hesitate to add that, "there is talk about taking another Team Canada to South Africa." Chretien's invention, Team Canada, consists of business people, politicians, artisans, and students that traveled to China and countries in South-East Asia to promote trade with Canada in 1994.

Mandela didn't hesitate to discuss at the business summit how pertinent economics are today, stating, "at a time when the crisis in the global economy reminds us all of the interdependence of nations and economies in today's world, and of the necessity for us to meet our goals through cooperation with one-another.

"We have a common interest, along with many others, in developing an equitable system of international trade groups."

Mandela who since taking presidential reign, has become more economically oriented, and has been accused of sacrificing his morals in favour of politics.

Mandela made a comment a few years back arguing that apartheid is still commonplace in the United States and that more efforts should be made to combat systemic racism against Blacks in the U.S.. In fact back in 1990, Themba Molefe, a Black South African reporter who was on sabbatical at the Detroit News addressed the Western hype over Nelson Mandela. He wrote, "I fail to understand why U.S.. foreign correspondents based in Johannesburg neglected or failed to tell their country the real story of black disunity, of bombs being hurled into people's homes while they and their children sleep because of intolerance of each other's political affiliations." He further added that it should be said that the ANC is one of three mainstream liberation movements in South Africa. Members of the groups are "the focus of one of the most scandalous examples of inter-organization violence in Black history, and Mandela and my colleagues know about it."

John MacAr-thur, the publisher of Harper's Magazine wrote at the time of Mandela's first visit to North America since his release from jail. He wrote, "Exaggerated symbolic gestures have always had special currency in U.S. politics and the Mandela tour has been no exception. But the world is changing rapidly, as Mr. Mandela knows well, and I think it's unlikely that loud rhetoric will placate Black America any longer than it will the angry followers of the ANC."

Earlier in the day Mandela proclaimed in his speech at the summit, "We are earnest about improving the quality of life of our people." South Africans have been severely affected by a slumped economy suffering the worst recession in 80 years since the dismantling of apartheid began in 1990. Now that official segregation is gone, the challenge for Mandela is to end the economic racism that continues to oppress South Africans. This is no mean feat in the global economy.

South African journalist Rich Mkhondo wrote in 1993, "de Klerk and Mandela astounded the world by announcing constitutional negotiations; nevertheless, their failure to prevent anarchy and the slide to economic ruin remains deeply disturbing.

Furthermore, there is the current South African military intervention in Lesotho, to control looting and violence in which almost 70 people have been killed. The ongoing clashes between government supporters, renegade soldiers, and opposition parties demanding a nullification of last May's election which the demonstrators say was rigged. Mandela failed to discuss this. Instead he opted for an approach more apt to secure Canadian funds for South Africa. This went over well at both the business summit and the Prime Minister's dinner. Mandela had the room in hysterics when he spoke of his last visit to Canada. "Canada is one of our best friends. When I came here in 1990, Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister at the time. Before I told him what I wanted, he got up and offered me five million dollars, and I knew he meant Canadian dollars. So I thanked the Prime Minister for giving me five million U.S. dollars, and that is what I got. All of us were happy."

"Canada is a home away from home," he said. "That is why I came here, and I'm sorry that I have to leave so early."

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