Calgary, Saturday, May 6, 2006

My husband, Jean Daniel, and I would like to thank Mayor Bronconnier for his very warm welcome and in particular, for the honour of being White–Hatted by the City! We have been thrilled by the warmth of your welcome since our arrival.

Yesterday, my husband, Jean-Daniel, participated in an informal discussion about civic engagement and the arts with members of the filmmaking community. He was heartened to learn that they work in a highly collaborative environment and are coming together to expand the role of the arts, which is such a vital part of our society. The artists of your city provoke, challenge, inspire, and are motivators for positive change and social justice.

While Jean-Daniel was meeting with members of the filmmaking community, I was visiting, with our daughter Marie-Éden, the Hamlet of Millarville. We were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and positive outlook shown by the children and young people attending the school in this beautiful Alberta community.  They possess a strong sense of community engagement, and a true knowledge and appreciation for their collective heritage. They truly dig their past!

The future of our country lies in their hands and those of young people everywhere, and I salute the investment that the Province is making to foster their contribution to the creation of a better world.

So, indeed it is a particular pleasure for us to be here in Calgary to celebrate with you the final day of your city’s Youth Week.

Having made young people my top priority, I so appreciate the recognition you are giving to the important role that they play in our society.

Like parents everywhere, I want my daughter, Marie-Éden, and all the children of our country to have the means to achieve their full potential. But it is our task to prepare the way. I want to ensure that young people’s concerns are heard, that their ideas inform our own, that their dreams can be realized. In this way, we support them in embracing the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. And we give them the full capacity to live meaningful and rewarding lives.

Today, I will participate in a discussion with youth from a wide variety of backgrounds, who are providing outstanding leadership in tackling the many issues facing young people in this city. On a daily basis, many of these youth are confronted with obstacles that often lead to despair and alienation.

Nonetheless, they have succeeded in overcoming these challenges and establishing themselves as models of civic engagement within their respective communities.

I look forward to hearing their concerns, learning about their initiatives, and how I can support them in their endeavours.

In every community across the country, we see evidence of young people we are failing in some way. They may have dropped out of school, be living on the streets, have come into conflict with the law…

They are pitted against not just authority or each other, but against their own best interests—and ours. Caught in a destructive spiral, weapons become the tool that permits them to be heard, and drugs become the means by which their pain is silenced.

When I worked as a journalist, I had the opportunity to meet young people and realized that too many of our youth have simply given up. Feeling abandoned by family, alienated by school, and marginalized by society, they turn towards organized crime for the sense of community and belonging they lack. Criminal elements seize upon such opportunities, preying upon and exploiting the vulnerable and the excluded.

We must not remain indifferent to their distress. Our networks of mutuality can be mobilized to make a difference.

It is not possible to speak about youth issues without addressing issues related to family violence and violence against women. When supported and nurtured, youth are capable of challenging our expectations, and carving themselves a place in our great society. When we create the conditions that permit them to discover their gifts, realize their potential, and so play an active role, we all benefit.

Alberta’s prosperity can support the creation of such conditions, and ensure that no one is left behind.

I am excited about the dialogue we will have here today. I am eager to listen and to learn how I can be a positive force in helping make this happen.

Thank you.