Winnipeg, Thursday, October 20, 2011

I am delighted be here today for this presentation of The Duke of Edinburgh Awards.  

During the past year, it has been my privilege to meet hundreds of young recipients of these awards in cities across Canada. Hearing of their achievements and dreams has inspired me as governor general and reminded me that the country we seek is a goal, not a given.

You are special leaders in that group because you set the tone; you create the standard of leadership by giving back.

“Ask not what my country can do for me
Ask what I can do for my country.”

What can you do to set the standard? Here it is:

In 2017, we Canadians will celebrate our 150th anniversary as a nation, and I want to invite you to imagine the kind of country you want to live in as we approach this milestone. Our unique Confederation was the result of years of careful planning and consideration of the true nature of our society, as well as an opportunity for our forebears to dream of the future.

Similarly, I think that our approaching 150th birthday is a perfect occasion to imagine and to plan for the future.

You may say, “My gift of leadership is too small – it’s just a drop in the bucket.”

Let me tell you my favourite ‘drop in the bucket’ story.

Some two decades ago, Mother Teresa came to Montréal. One of our neighbours, moved by her work with the poor in Calcutta, asked Mother Teresa how she could help. She replied: “Just look around you. In your own neighbourhood there is a family who needs your care and love.”

Shortly afterward, I read a criticism of Mother Teresa’s work. Her shelter in Calcutta gave succour to perhaps 200 people in a city where millions lived in abject poverty. Her work was described as one small drop in an ocean.

A few weeks later, I realized the shortcomings of this criticism. It was looking at her work from the point of view of physics, rather than chemistry.

Through her compassion, Mother Teresa was transforming the lives of those around her. In turn, they too would go on to effect positive change. In this way, entire communities and societies are changed, one act at a time.

Let me leave you with two lines of my favourite poem from George Bernard Shaw: “Some people see things as they are and wonder ‘Why?’ We dream of things that ought to be and ask, ‘Why not?’”