It is with great emotion and humility that I join you today to share in this special moment of exchange on an issue very dear to my heart: reconciliation.

Let me begin by telling you how privileged I feel to engage in a dialogue with you at the Gymnasium Grammar school of Vukovar and to share with you my own story.  

I was born in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, at a time in which it was ravaged by a brutal dictatorship.

I remember, as a child, learning about the disappearance of friends and family.

I remember watching the houses of our neighbours being set on fire.

I remember witnessing my own father being arrested and tortured.

After he was released, I remember my mother looking for refuge in foreign embassies.

I remember friends of my family being executed.  

That was part of my experience growing up in Haiti.

Choosing life over almost certain death, my parents decided to flee and seek refuge in Canada.

We arrived as refugees on a very cold morning in a small mining town called Thetford-Mines in the province of Quebec.

The Canada I discovered was a land of freedom.

At last, we felt comfortable expressing our opinions openly and freely.

We had a keen impression that we had arrived in a land of boundless possibilities. 

Yet we had to get used to a completely different world in which we were a minority. 

The color of our skin was different, and we were often treated as objects of curiosity.

Some even rejected us because we were different.

Because we were immigrants.

Because there were prejudices.

Because there was ignorance.

And racism feeds on ignorance.

And racism causes exclusion.

It is a painful reminder, but one that is absolutely necessary, of the vigilance needed to prevent hate from spreading from heart to heart, community to community, generation to generation.

No community, no society, no people can move forward by excluding minorities.

In Canada people care for one another. I remember that every time we were faced with a problem, there were many organizations available and eager to help us.

Because the spirit of solidarity defines the way we live together, the social harmony in our society, the very meaning of our shared citizenship.

Here I am today, the governor general and commander-in-chief of Canada, the land I am proud to call home.

Everyone has a different story.

But you can probably relate to mine as much as you can relate to yours.

I know that memories of conflicts are still alive in this area of the world.

I know how difficult it is to forget the wounds of the past.

But I also know that healing comes from our ability to recognize and transcend our pain and losses.

I know that what is at stake is our commitment to ensuring that the forces of solidarity and creation triumph over the forces of exclusion and destruction.

Your school must be a place of hope and possibility.

Because in this school, you are together.

We have been eager to meet you, and we would like to know how you are living together in this school, located in the city of Vukovar.

What is special about your school?

Do you see each other outside school?

I just shared with you my experience with racism.

Are there examples of racism around you and how do you address them?