Ayer’s Cliff, September 19, 2009
Notes for an address at Townshippers’ Day
Graham Fraser – Commissioner of Official Languages
Check against delivery
Good morning everyone.
What a pleasure it is for me to be with you today to celebrate such a vibrant and engaged community. I always feel as if I am coming home when I come back to the Townships—and I come as often as I can.
The Townships, like many other regions that include a minority-language community, faces particular challenges. I am struck by the fact that you are already working to involve young people. In addition to celebrating the 30th anniversary of Townshippers, your president, Michael Van Lierop, only recently celebrated his own 30th birthday. And one of his predecessors, Nancy Beattie, was president when she was even younger.
Our youth are vital to minority-language communities. And the high level of bilingualism of those in your community makes them ambassadors between both the English- and French-speaking communities. They contribute greatly to the growth and success of our communities.
Here in the Townships, you have tremendous assets: a strong cultural heritage, an English-language CEGEP and university, an English-language daily newspaper and several weeklies.
Part of that heritage is a tradition of collaboration and cooperation with the French-speaking majority which, in many ways, makes your community a model.
I am also pleased to know that the Townshippers’ Association has long been a leader in making a privileged place for the youth of this community.
Youth issues are central to the goals of the Townshippers’ Association as well as the Community Search Conference, a new initiative that was launched less than a year ago. Both recognize the need to empower youth and to give them a sense of belonging to their community, in part to overcome out-migration, but also to ensure a continued pride in the community. The Search Conference also recognizes the need for intergenerational exchange.
Last week, at the QCGN annual meeting, Marjorie Goodfellow was one of the first recipients of the Sheila and Victor Goldbloom Award. I am sure she will continue to be active in the health sector, and continue to be a mentor to the younger generation of community leaders.
As a youth once myself, I spent all my summers here until I was 14, and the beauty, interconnectedness and closeness of this community brought me back many years later. The experiences I have had at our summer home in North Hatley over the years surrounded by the greats of the English-speaking literary world in Quebec such as F.R. Scott and Mason Wade make this community truly part of who I am.
Last night, I was in Hatley to celebrate, with many of you, the launch of Taproot IV, the collection of prose, poetry and images from local writers and artists. These writers and artists, along with all the others that submitted their works, contribute to the identity of this community and serve to promote it throughout the province and the country. Their voices are helping to shape our world.
And they are not the only ones. All members of an official language community have a role to play. You are all ambassadors for the Eastern Townships, and all of you help to promote this vibrant community to your fellow Quebecers and Canadians. I plan on following the work you do together through the Community Search Conference. I am sure the outcome of your efforts will serve as an inspiration for other communities throughout the country that are experiencing the same challenges. Of course, my office and I will continue to lend our support in any way we can.
Happy Townshippers’ Day!
Thank you.
