Youth Dialogue on Civic Engagement

Lviv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 25, 2009

How are you?

Let me start by thanking Tarasova Nich for such a wonderful performance.

Please, give them another warm round of applause.

It gives me great pleasure to join you this afternoon at my first ever Youth Dialogue on Ukrainian soil.

I could think of no better place to hold our conversation than here in the city of Lviv, which is, I am told, a center for youth engagement, and a place where many Ukrainian Canadians can trace their family origins.

I see more and more world leaders acknowledging that young people have a crucial role to play in shaping our planet.

I, like many of them, believe that you are not only the leaders of the future, but you are also leaders today—here and now.

For me, this conviction is not an empty slogan or naïve rhetoric. 

Rather, it flows from a reality that I have lived during the last four years of my mandate as governor general of Canada.

Since my installation as titular Head of State of Canada in 2005, I have worked to create spaces where the voices of youth can resonate across Canada and overseas. 

Whether during visits to urban and rural communities in Canada or to such cities as Rio, Prague, Port-au-Prince, Bordeaux and Johannesburg, I have held forums where young people have debated face to face with decision-makers, the heads of police services, philanthropists and business people.

In so doing, they have articulated, in the most compelling terms, ways to improve life in their communities, their neighbourhoods, and the wider society 

And the impact has been incredible. 

Their clarion call to action has been so powerful that it has uplifted entire communities to transform places where despair runs rife into spaces of hope and opportunity.

Their commitment demonstrates what happens when young people take a stand.

When young people express their convictions and ideas.

When young people refuse to give in to indifference, to a sense of powerlessness and apathy.

Let’s be honest, as Ilona Dougherty, a Canadian delegate reminds us: apathy is boring.

For not only does civic engagement matter.

Active citizenship is the key to securing a better future for yourselves and for your entire nation.

And so, as I pursue my State visit to Ukraine, I am longing to hear about youth engagement in your country. 

Since my arrival, I have learned how the challenges you face have been compounded by the international financial crisis.

For youth, the situation is becoming urgent, here as elsewhere.

More and more young people are abdicating their historic role as “movers and shakers” to seek false solace in a world of substance abuse, criminal activity, and human trafficking.

As an outsider looking in, I find this situation quite unfortunate given youth have always been critical social actors.

I am told that the young people of Lviv were among the first to take to the streets to demand a more just, open and democratic society during the Orange Revolution.

Even earlier, during the Soviet period, youths resisted the communist stranglehold on Ukraine, in their attempt to bring about a regime change.

That is why Canada is so proud to be the first Western nation to recognize your independence in 1991.

That is why Canadians were so honoured to join you, as you sought fair and democratic elections in 2004.

Many Canadians watched the uprising in Ukraine with great interest, as the Orange Revolution showed us that even our democracy still has a lot to learn.

So I am fascinated to discover how you are working collectively to rekindle the spark that animated the hearts and minds of young people who strived to have their say and to see liberty and democracy flourish throughout your country. 

The reason I am here is not to teach a lesson. 

I am here because I want you to know that you are not alone.

Canada will continue to stand with Ukraine as you face these difficult times. 

We have a lot to share and to learn from each other. And we will continue to work together as partners and friends.

I have always believed in the power of dialogue to build bridges of understanding and reciprocity.

So in that spirit, I have invited members of the Canadian delegation to share with you their perspectives on youth engagement.

So without further a due, let the discussion begin!