Justin Trudeau Speaks in Thornhill

Dr. Karen Mock, the Federal Liberal candidate for Thornhill, hosted a forum entitled “Multiculturalism and Youth Engagement – Canada’s Role in a Changing World” on May 26 at Vaughan Secondary School in Thornhill. The evening featured guest speaker Justin Trudeau, MP for Papineau.

The event was well-attended by Thornhill residents and local politicians, including former Thornhill MP Susan Kadis, former Thornhill MPP and Vaughan mayoral candidate Mario Racco, and Vaughan councillor Alan Shefman.

Mock was introduced by Federal Liberal Party president Alfred Apps, who called the candidate “one of the leading authorities on the challenges of multiculturalism in our time.”

Mock said that she has always been an avid supporter of multiculturalism and has worked to implement multiculturalism in education throughout her career, specifically her time working for Ontario Education Minister Kathleen Wynne.

“It was Pierre Elliot Trudeau who announced the multiculturalism policy in the House of Commons in 1971, establishing and promoting the positive notion of Canada’s pluralist society as a source of our identity and strength,” said Mock, noting she was thrilled to welcome Justin Trudeau “for this exciting evening to discuss the Liberal vision for Canada, from generation to generation.”

Mock said she was proud that Thornhill is one of the most diverse communities in Canada, representing every ethnic group in the country. She spoke about her vision to “make Thornhill the safest and best community in which to live.”

She said that the theme of the forum was “youth engagement and empowerment” and that she wanted youth to take the lead and be involved in decision making for their community.

She also remarked that we need to get back to original vision of Canada the reason why everyone in the audience calls Canada home.

Mock offered those in attendance a “genuine invitation to be involved in the conversation.”

Trudeau spoke about the challenges he feels Canada is facing across the country. He said that Canadians do not talk enough anymore about where we are going as a country and society.

“Canada is an attempt to create something unlike anywhere else in the world. It’s something we’ve been working on for an awfully long time,” he said.

Seven years from now when Canada celebrates its 150 anniversary, Trudeau said that we need to ask ourselves what we will have achieved as a country on the world stage.

“What will we have to say to the world that we are proud of, that we do better and get right more than anyone else?” he asked. “Unfortunately, right now, the government we have refuses to talk about long-term vision. They aren’t about building a better, larger, more engaged Canada. It’s not about stepping up and taking our place in the world anymore. It’s about just getting by.”

Canadians have always understood that our differences and diversity have always made us strong.

“We’re not strong in spite of our differences, but because of them,” said Trudeau.

Canada needs to share our strengths with the world at a time when conflict, resource scarcity and environmental degradation are on the rise around the world leading to conflict.

“Canada needs to be there with solution and we’re nowhere to be found. We not stepping up there and living up to our responsibilities to the rest of the world. We’re (also) not living up to our responsibilities to the next generations of Canadians,” he said, referring to previous Liberal governments’ work on international issues. He also praised the Mulroney government for their work on issues such as fighting against Apartheid in South Africa.

He said that today’s youth can seem disconnected from the issues because they care and they are deeply frustrated that they feel they don’t have a real say.

The answer, according to Trudeau, is to get the youth of today involved in what they care about.

If that happens, “Changing the world for the better goes from being a nice possible idea to being something that becomes flat out inevitable.”

A short question and answer period followed. In answer to a question about multiculturalism in Thornhill, Mock replied, “Recently an expression has been coined that I like very much. And it’s: ‘Karen Mock Walks the Talk’.”

The evening was the first in a series of Thornhill public forums to connect community members and the issues they feel strongly about with the Liberal Party’s policy platform.