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Toronto, Wednesday, October 1st, 2008
Life sometimes puts us to the test.
When we suffer an illness, lose a job, survive a natural disaster, go into exile, experience separation, feel the pain of solitude: this is when we need a helping hand, an attentive ear, a kind word, a hot meal or a roof over our heads.
No one is immune to the challenges life throws our way.
We tend to forget that, when things are going well.
But as members of the human family, it is our responsibility to acknowledge our frailties and to take care of one another.
Helping others has nothing to do with profit.
Nothing to do with pomp and circumstance.
Nothing to do with obligation.
The desire to help others comes from the heart.
Reaching out to someone in need stems from the deep conviction that life is precious and a strong desire to help improve the world around us.
But this desire, this concern, is certainly not one-sided.
Caring implies a spirit of reciprocity.
I believe that the true power in helping others is the way it changes the life of the person who is doing the helping, just as it changes the life of the person who is helped.
That is why, to my mind, reaching out to someone else is the most promising thing we can do.
It is how we inspire hope in others, how it becomes part of our daily lives and puts an end to the feeling of powerlessness that leads others to despair and indifference.
It is by helping others that we overcome hatred, exclusion, and the defeatist, “everyone for himself” attitude. Helping others allows us to discover other ways of living together as a society.
Ways that are more just.
Ways that show more solidarity.
Ways that are more human.
The fourteen people receiving the Caring Canadian Award this morning embody this promise of hope.
You share a determination to act for the greater good, and it is an honour for me to pay tribute to you today.
By donating your time, your talents and your resources, by being open to others and showing them compassion, you remind us what humanity really means.
You are shining examples of commitment for all of us and for future generations following in your footsteps, who are looking for ways to express their willingness to share.
Thank you, to each and every one of you. As I like to say, you show us that our hearts should be as big and boundless as Canada itself!