City of Québec, Wednesday, August 13, 2008

How are you?

I am overjoyed to see that so many of you have responded to the call tonight. I can’t wait to hear what you have to say, which is why we are here.

I organized this dialogue to hear from you.

You are giving a voice to the planet.

And I know that we have in this room young people from Africa, from Asia, from the Middle East, from América Latina, from Europe, and from North America.

Where are you?

How many believe that you can make a difference?

How many believe that you hold the solution to war, to injustice, to apathy, to poverty, to climate change?

How many feel that you have something valid to say about injustice, violence, exclusion?

How many feel that your voices are not being heard?

How many feel that you and your ideas should be taken more seriously?

How many want to be included as equal partners?

Are you ready to talk about the solutions and ideas that could change the world?

We simply cannot manage without you!

I believe that you are indispensable, that you are part of the solution, that the world cannot afford to keep relegating you to the sidelines.

Let’s be honest: the world needs to wake up before it is too late.

You are, after all, the majority! We must seize this opportunity, this moment in time.

I do recognize, however, that even among the world’s youth, there is not necessarily equal opportunity.

Unequal access to resources, to critical tools, and even to power can create a wedge between those among us who have and those who don’t.

In fact, I have been truly humbled to learn about the extraordinary lengths many of you took just to get here.

Still, there are hundreds around the world who would have loved to be here but were unable to do so.

What this shows us is that whatever the cost, we must act as a global community and reduce the gaps that separate us.

The battle is not yet over.

There is still much to be done. And we must do it together. We need to broaden our horizons, find common ground, see all that we can achieve and all that we share. Ideas, so many ideas. Actions, so many actions.

We must stand side-by-side, working in a spirit of solidarity, to ensure that all of us, I repeat, all of us, can flourish.

Tonight, I wanted to get a better idea of your realities, a better understanding of your realities and concerns so that I could see how I might accompany you on this path.

I am so happy and so proud to have been able to work with Apathy is Boring to open this dialogue with you.

Apathy is Boring, like so many other organizations, is showing us that there are viable ways to counter apathy, indifference, and the “fend for yourself” mentality.

Thanks to TakingITGlobal and Apathy is Boring, your friends, your family and hundreds of youth from across Canada and around the world are joining us tonight through a live webcast, text messages and webcam.

As we celebrate the 250^th anniversary of the birth of parliamentary democracy in Canada, I encourage you to stand up, to dare to dream. And we can dream big!

Thank you ReGeneration 2008 for helping to bring us all together in the City of Québec.

And most importantly, I want to hear from you.

Let’s get busy!