Education/Video

To Comment on this article Click Here

If we want our young people to be the leaders of tomorrow, we must allow them to be leaders today.

That was the basic message from Justin Trudeau who spoke to a crowd of about 500 people Thursday night, as part of the symposium, "Today's Kids, Tomorrow's Village," at Kincardine District Secondary School.

The 39-year-old son of former Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau, he worked as a teacher for many years and is now a Member of Parliament representing the riding of Papineau in Quebec.

First off, he told the KDSS audience that he hates the phrase, "leaders of tomorrow," which heaps a lot of anxiety and stress on the youth of today.

"We have to let them be leaders today," he said. "We have to let them provide service to their communities, allow them to motivate the people around them so they can be part of something better."

Trudeau said that the world has changed, fundamentally, regarding space and time. 

"Young people realize that they can touch all corners of the world through the Internet," he said. "The pace of change is moving quickly and we have to move faster and faster just to catch up. Young people want to change the world but they don't really believe they can even make a difference."

It's important that they realize that transformation takes time. It is gradual, incremental and is made up of millions and millions of smaller actions.

Justin Trudeau speaks to the audience about allowing young people to be leaders today

"We're good at talking about the big consequences of our actions, but we're not too good at the smaller actions," he said. "For example, the action of putting a tin can in a recycling box instead of the garbage. It's a small action but if you repeat that thousands of times, millions and billions of times, the world would be a different place.

"The problem is that young people just don't think what they do matters. We need to get them engaged, helping out younger grades of students, working with seniors in a retirement facility. It's about them finding their own strength and value."

Trudeau said the community must reach out to its young people through conferences such as the one being held at KDSS.

"We have to help them realize that everything they do has an impact," he said. "We have to make them feel like they're part of the community - give them the tools, the capacity and the opportunity to have an impact on the world around them.

"If we want young people to be the leaders of tomorrow, we have to allow them to be leaders today."

Trudeau said the feeling of being an important part of society was brought home to him when he was teaching high school, and his famous, well-known father came for a visit.

"Many of the teachers were overwhelmed to meet my father," he said. "Then a young student came up and said 'Mr. Trudeau, I hate to bother you ...' I expected my father would graciously agree to sign his autograph for her. But then I realized that she was talking to me. I was important."

That's the feeling that many young people need to feel, said Trudeau. "They have to realize that they matter, and that changing the world is not only possible, but inevitable."

During a question and answer period, following his speech, Trudeau was asked what bill he would like to see passed in Parliament. He said he would like to see a national policy on youth, including the key elements of education, employment and service to community.

Trudeau said he "sort of" won the lottery by being born into the family living at 24 Sussex Drive. "I've travelled to 86 countries and we always received massive amounts of presents at Christmas time.

"We're all lucky to live in Canada."

Despite his famous last name, Trudeau had to earn his right to serve as an MP in Parliament. He was elected against a tough Bloc Quebecois candidate in the 2008 election, and was re-elected this year. He now serves as the youth critic for the Liberal party.

When asked by KDSS student David Yun how to get more young people out to a speech such as the one that night, Trudeau said, "You have to figure out what your friends are doing tonight instead of coming here. What are they interested in? What are they good at? You have to connect their passions with how they can make a difference in the world."

After his address, Trudeau greeted members of the audience.

^{for world news, books, sports, movies ...}

Thursday, June 09, 2011