May 4, 2002
Church Point, Nova Scotia
I wish to thank the Université Sainte-Anne for this great honour. It has
been my privilege to receive other such awards. But this one is especially
touching. Because Université Sainte-Anne, and the Acadian community, reflect
hopes, ideas and beliefs that are very close to my heart.
For all of you, this is a time for celebration. You have worked hard. With
the abiding support of your families you have set high goals and achieved them.
Université Sainte-Anne has prepared you to take on the world.
As you begin your journey, by way of advice, I would like to explain why I
feel such a close connection to this place and to the community for which it is
such an important symbol.
I come from a small mill town in rural Quebec. For my friends and I, the
world beyond Quebec was still unknown. The lure of defining ourselves simply as
rural Québecois was attractive to many. But my parents told us that all of
Canada belonged to us. They challenged us to look outward. To dream large. To
insist on claiming our rights as full citizens. To believe that I, as a
Mauricien, a proud Quebecer and a proud Canadian should feel at home in any part
of this great land.
This belief motivated me when I first came to Ottawa as an MP in 1963, with
little knowledge of English and almost no one around me who could speak French.
It guided me as a member of the government that passed the Official Languages
Act. And it was with me when, as Minister of Justice, I worked side by side
with Pierre Elliott Trudeau, to entrench minority language rights in the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms and to apply the principle of equality and
full citizenship to the diverse array of cultures that make up the cosmopolitan
Canada of today.
The success of Université Sainte-Anne validates everything I was brought up
to believe. The Acadian heart beats strongly here in Atlantic Canada. In places
like Clare, Saulnierville and Metéghan. And in places like Beauséjour in New
Brunswick which I had the privilege to represent in the House of Commons. In all
towns and villages like these, a proud people have retained their cherished
identity and traditions.
The focal point is this university. Where students can obtain a first class
French education Where l’Institut des études acadiennes is a portal through
which new generations can know their heritage. And where, I am very pleased to
see, many English students come to express their attachment to the bilingual
reality of Canada.
If Université Sainte-Anne is about culture it is, above all, about learning
- a high quality of learning.
My own education was full of adventure, perhaps too much. Had Rector Roberge
been one of my teachers he would no doubt have joined a long line who begged my
parents to take me home. But no matter how much trouble I got into at school, my
mother and father would not give up on me. They insisted that I get a good
education. They knew it was the ticket to a better life and a much wider world
of opportunity.
As I reflect on what I put them through, I am reminded of an old joke that
goes like this: "When I was fourteen, my parents were so ignorant I could
hardly stand it. But when I turned twenty-one I was astonished at how much they
had learned in seven years."
The influence of my parents was profound. We were the first generation of the
Chrétien family to receive a higher education. More, they made the idea of a
Chrétien going far in school a family expectation, not an exception.
Of course the context has changed dramatically since my youth. Higher
education is no longer really a choice. In a global economy that is increasingly
based on knowledge and skills it is becoming mandatory to achieving personal
success.
That is why our government has placed a very high priority on enabling all
Canadians to have access to education, skills and opportunities. With the
deficit vanquished, we have, year after year, broken new ground with
forward-looking strategic investments: from the Millennium Scholarships to the
Canada Education Savings Grants which help parents save for the post-secondary
education of their children; from investments designed to build an advanced
research infrastructure at universities and colleges here in Nova Scotia and
right across Canada; to the Atlantic Investment Partnership, which we created to
help Atlantic Canadian researchers and entrepreneurs transform their new ideas
and processes into thriving businesses.
And we are just getting started. I am very excited by the Knowledge and
Innovation Strategy that we recently announced. It invites all Canadians to
engage with us on the next steps needed to ensure that our country remains one
of the most innovative and inclusive in the world.
Before I close, I want to touch on one other defining part of my personal and
political credo.
We learned young in my family to think beyond ourselves, to reflect not only
on personal gain but on the strength of the entire community and the welfare of
our fellow citizens. It has been our good fortune to live in a nation where the
idea of sharing is bred in the bone. Great adversity and privation have made it
second nature to Acadians. As a nation, we have created instruments for sharing
our prosperity, such as universal medicare, equalization and programs designed
to ensure that every child gets the best possible start in life.
Internationally, this bedrock Canadian value has meant an abiding commitment
to a more equitable sharing of the global wealth. To ensuring that the benefits
of globalization are truly global.
Because of our record as an innovative leader in development assistance, my
G8 colleagues gave Canada the lead on the issue of reducing the marginalization
of Africa from the global economy. A marginalization that is expressed in some
very depressing statistics: recurring conflicts and war, rising poverty,
crushing public debt, inadequate education, and a crisis in health care of which
an epidemic of HIV/AIDs is just a part.
Shortly, it will be my honour to host the G8 in Alberta. Endorsing a concrete
Africa Action Plan will be the focus of our agenda. We envision a new
partnership in which progressive African governments who are committed to
democracy, human rights, good governance and open markets will be rewarded by
developed nations with enhanced assistance and increased market access.
Helping Africa get on its feet is a reaffirmation of the Canadian belief in
human dignity. It is in the interest of creating a more prosperous world with
new markets. And it is profoundly in the interest of global security.
We have seen right here in Nova Scotia, home of two of the four brave young
men our country recently laid to rest, the tragic consequences that can result
from failed states in far away places.
My friends, at the risk of going on too long, I would like to close with a
just a few more words of advice for the journey that awaits you.
Consider seriously the path of public service. I have been in public life for
39 years. And I tell you, from my heart, that it has rewarded me in ways that
far exceed any possible material gain.
And when you dream, remember to dream large. As large as your Acadian
forebears. As large as the founders of this university. As large as Wellie and
Marie Boisvert-Chrétien. Large dreams will keep you young. I am the proof.
- 30 -
