Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean
Speech on the Occasion of a Visit to the Établissement de détention
Montréal, Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Thank you for welcoming me here today. It might not be a place where you would expect to see the Governor General of Canada. But as I said in my installation speech, I think it is very important to give young people all of the tools and every opportunity to realize their potential and participate fully in civic life. Having said that, I do not exclude those whose lives have gone off the right track and who wish to return to it, or those we would like to put on the path toward rehabilitation. We must not ignore these efforts—yours, theirs—nor should we respond to these young people with indifference.
The rehabilitation work that you are doing is crucial for this purpose. It has also earned the Corrections Exemplary Service Medal. I want you to know how keenly aware I am that each of your words and actions behind these walls has the strength to resonate within the young detainees who are seeking a way out. I would also like to pay tribute to the innovative work of Mohamed Lotfi, who has used radio as a way of helping these young people to reach the world awaiting them beyond these “walls”—and to declare that they are masters of their own dignity. And I want to congratulate you for making possible this experiment, unmatched anywhere in the world.
I am convinced that, so long as we are alive, nothing is ever over and we can aspire to greater freedom and happiness. I am convinced that it is always possible to correct your course, to take yourself in hand, to see yourself and the world with new eyes, to recognize other people as flesh and blood rather than enemies to be destroyed. I deeply believe in the necessity of triggering this dawning of awareness. And I know the great difference that a sign of encouragement, a friendly glance, an attentive ear can make. It often happens that lack of understanding on the part of some leads to the exclusion of others. In today’s cityscape, there are too many young people who are adrift or sinking. Youth for whom the future seems closed off and the opportunities so limited that delinquency is quick to entangle them in its nets.
With equal vigilance, let us listen for the distress signals sent out by our young people, and also look for the glimmers of hope that we can kindle in their eyes and in their lives. My heartfelt wish is that, together, our actions to improve the lot of young people—those wandering the streets as well as those “inside”—bear fruit. I am counting on you to continue your efforts. I sincerely thank you for the vital part you are playing in the lives of these young men when they most need help. And if the talk I will have with a small group of inmates whom I am about to meet should have an impact on the direction of their lives, however slight, I will be convinced that I have supported you in your work.
Thank you for your welcome.
