I'm not aware of any saints in politics but Mandela's conduct and his tireless and conciliatory work after his release to build a democratic South Africa that was colour blind and focused on a better future rather than on recriminations about the past puts him much closer to sainthood than almost any politician.

As to his 1950s and 60s terrorist activities against the brutal, repressive, discriminatory, racist regime in RSA,  I would like to think that had I been a black South African at that time I, too, would have been principled and courageous and passionate enough about justice and equality to have been a terrorist in common cause with Mandela.

I am proud of Canada's role in ending apartheid in RSA and in freeing Mandela, a role in which two Conservative PMs John Diefenbaker and Brian Mulroney were most prominent.

Not for nothing was Brian Mulroney in 2015 awarded the highest honour that South Africa bestows upon foreign dignitaries who were true friends of the RSA.