Inuvik, Tuesday, April 15, 2008

What a fantastic idea to have a lab on wheels!

The idea is so ingenious in its simplicity and so perfectly suited to life in the Far North, where communities are spread out over vast terrain and are sometimes difficult to access.

I am delighted that this project has become a reality.

Particularly since I have just come from a summit on education, where we discussed the need to prepare youth to seize the opportunities they are given.

So that they will be ready to become leaders in their communities.

So that they will be ready to take charge of the future of their communities.

Yesterday, I met with young people from this community, who were full of fire and promise.

I told them that it was up to them to shape the course of their destiny.

I told them that they had to dream big.

I shared with them my grandmother’s words of wisdom: education is the key to freedom.

And I saw shining in their eyes a glimmer of hope.

We have to keep these glimmers of hope alive in our youth and convince them that anything is possible if you work hard enough.

This is precisely what this mobile training lab is all about.

So let us assure our youth that they can find the means—through learning and education—of improving their lives and their communities.

Let us encourage them to believe in the many promises for the future and renewal that I have seen here in the Beaufort-Delta Region.

I wish you every success and congratulate Aurora College for this brilliant initiative!