(…) deeply touched I am by this honour, the Paul Harris Fellow, you confer upon me. I am particularly moved by your gesture, knowing that you will use it to help underserved youth, across Canada, tackle important issues in their communities, through the arts and social innovation.

(….) my new Foundation [is] deeply connected to grassroots organizations across the country, we believe in youth-driven initiatives that use the power of the arts to mobilize our nation around inclusion, social innovation, creativity, active citizenship, dialogue, collaboration and corporate social responsibility. We believe in a society in which everyone everywhere can fulfill his or her highest aspirations. We have seen how socially innovative and effective young people’s initiatives can be in that regard.

(….) in every corner of the country, I have witnessed disaffected youth use the arts to combat depression, substance abuse, violence and suicide plaguing far too many of our communities. These transformations can take place at the individual level. Here I am thinking of (…) a dub poet of Jamaican origin, I met in Toronto. During a lively youth dialogue I had convened, she spoke, in very troubling terms, about the intimidation, harassment and even sexual violence terrorizing teenage girls in our high schools

(….) a domestic violence survivor, she had found healing in spoken word and theater. But realizing that she was not alone, D’bi decided to use her art as a tool to empower teenage girls and young women to leave abusive relationships, to speak out against sexism and misogyny, and to convince their peers to put an end to violence against women.

(….) But the power of the arts is not limited to mobilizing at the community level. Incredible transformations can take place at the national level too. I am thinking here of my many visits to the Canadian Arctic. There, I encountered young people using animation and documentary film, poetry, spoken word, social media, painting, slam, sculpture, graffiti, theater, and yes, even break-dancing to not only address social challenges but also to build national unity between youth in the North and youth in the Canadian south. (….) youth from Canada’s Arctic and young people from our large cities are using the arts to breakdown geographic, linguistic, cultural, and even ethnic barriers that have, for far too long, prevented southern Canada from understanding and even interacting with the realities of the North (….)

By coming together, they use storytelling and dance as a way to get youth to speak out about their frustrations, their experience of abuse, and their dreams for a better future. And once that comfort level is established, all the youth realize that in the end, they have much more in common than they assumed (….) And from these new synergies is born a pan-Canadian sense of solidarity, of fraternity, of compassion. Young people realize that no matter where you are in Canada, no matter where you are from, no matter where you are going, our issues, our challenges, and our aspirations are the same. We find ourselves completely united around human realities that we can share.

(…) art changes minds, mentalities, modes of knowing, and behaviour. From the cognitive to the social (the act of living together), art modifies individuals as it modifies societies (….) Through art, the human being has the ability to interact with its environment using signs and symbols. (….) our popular imagination would have us reduce the centuries old interplay between humankind, the animal world, and the tundra in purely deterministic and mechanical terms. According to this view, the Inuit are a pre-rational people, incapable of abstract thought, adapting, according to the laws of nature, to the natural elements that fill the vast expanse of land (….)

Yet sensitivity to art as an experience teaches us that such a view is not only morally bankrupt, but it is also anthropologically and sociologically wrong. For the ancient myths, the sayings, the traditions, and the social practices of the northern people all bear witness to an active interpretation of the environment, based on carefully crafted symbols, abstract ideas, emotions and dreams, which are embodied and reflected in northern art (…)

(…) But what of the narrative, the λογος (logos), as the Greeks would say? How is the artistic experience translated from the realm of abstract forms and imaginative dreams into the reality of speech, of discourse and action? In other words, how does one make a unique artistic experience communicable through narrative and actionable through collective engagement?

(….) As the case of northern youth shows, there is continuity between human activity and that of nature in general. The human being is a cultural being embedded in a history, subject to the moral and intellectual imperatives, but also capable, through art and science to transform and create his or her own world (or a world in his or her image or through the images of his or her dreams or desires). Art not only inculcates values but also inspires actions; because art molds us through inductive learning, i.e. learning by doing.

(….) art (…) is as a journey that can liberate us from the fetters that impede and muddle our development, particularly the development of young students. Unlike scientific pursuits that sometimes obscure some features of experience such as quality or temporality, the aesthetic experience magnifies the best of our human traits and helps to point the way to a better future. It is a life experience, in the full meaning of the expression (….)

As my wife and I heard, on so many occasions, as we visited young people in community centers, homes for street-involved youth, soup kitchens, recreation centers, and even prisons, art, as an emotional and spiritual experience, can save lives. How many times, did we hear, for example, former gang members tell us, “Excellencies: the arts saved my life. They taught me how to replace violence and anger with words and poetry. They taught me how to channel my frustrations into dance. They taught me the value of becoming civically engaged in my community, and giving back to the new generation.”

It was based on testimonies like those that my wife and I chose, at their request, to dedicate my legacy, the Michaëlle Jean Foundation, to supporting young people who use the arts to tackle social issues, to identify solutions, to empower communities and to implement innovative strategies and actions for a better and more compassionate Canada.