"Us as Canadian Citizens"
"I am a Canadian, and I know that it is more than just beavers, hockey, being polite, and maple
leaves. I know that for the most part we are respecting, accepting, multicultural, bilingual, peace
loving, informed, and patriotic.
For four days this May, 220 young Canadians from all parts of the country gathered here in
Ottawa, and we learned what it is to be Canadian and to be a responsible citizen of this country.
The Rotary Club of Ottawa has for 52 years planned and hosted this event, the Rotary Adventure
in Citizenship, in order to give high school students in Canada the opportunity to develop their
potential as leaders in our communities and in Canadian society. Rotary is an organization of
executives and professionals, whose objective is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a
basis of worthy enterprise, and has over 30,000 clubs around the world. Each student who
attended the Rotary Adventure in Citizenship, was selected and sponsored by the Rotary Club of
their home town.
It was an amazing experience to meet so many people from each province and territory and to feel
how we are all united as Canadians, and also to see how important regional issues can be. While
we were touring the Canadian Museum of Civilization, dancing traditional Quebecois folk dance,
or sitting in the House of Commons, it was possible to just go up to someone, ask their name,
where they were from, and to connect somehow. Maybe because we both like Great Big Sea or
because we are both concerned about truth in the media. Which was one of things we considered
as we learned about the obligations of a citizen.
We also discussed ethics in citizenship, what a parliamentarian can accomplish, and
Canadian/American relations post September 11th. We learned that we are each other’s largest
trading partners, and that Canada must consider what it can give up and what it wants in return,
when shaping its relationship with the United States. The most vocal of us wished for more
involvement in peace keeping operations in Afghanistan, but others acknowledged the fact that
the attack on New York City was too close to home, and that it is necessary to react militarily
somehow, and that we, as Canadians, should be part of the army in Afghanistan. What we all
agreed on is that we would like to contribute to the war on terrorism, and that September llth was
a wake up call to stop taking things for granted, and also that we are very lucky.
The opportunity to be part of the Adventure in Citizenship, gave us all the chance to explore and
debate who we are as members of society in Canada. It showed us how important dialogues and
unity are to the workings of the country and how we must inform ourselves about important
issues so that we can positively effect the society.
I am so grateful that this program is available to youth across Canada, and that I was able to
interact with so many of them."
Sharing a lesson in Canadian values
A clipping from The Ottawa Citizen, Column "First Person", June 9, 2001:
An Ottawa student explains what she gained from a Rotary program for youth
Honor Brabazon, was a student at Lisgar Collegiate Institute at the time of writing this letter
"I am sitting in a crowded amphitheatre filled with the buzz of 220 other high school students from across Canada. To my left is a young woman from Wolfville, N.S., to my right is a young man from Maple Ridge, B.C. Many of us have resorted to a nervous chatter in our anticipation of the unexpected. We are at the National Archives, the first stop in Rotary’s Adventure in Citizenship.
Rotary is an organization of executives and professionals committed to community service and numbering 1.2 million members in 185 countries. It initiated the Adventure in Citizenship Program in 1951 to encourage teens to further its goals of friendship, fellowship and service to others.
All of us sitting in the Archives’ amphitheatre were selected by the Rotary clubs in our various hometowns to be the 2001 Adventurers: To come to Ottawa and to learn what true citizenship in this country means.
Throughout the four days of conference, the students participated in activities that renewed our sense of citizenship and identity as Canadians: lectures on Canadian-American relations, ethics and citizenship, tours of the Royal Canadian Mint and the Parliament Buildings, and a traditional Québécois dinner.
We learned about different levels of citizenship - for example to one’s regional or global community - and about the conflicts that frequently grow between these. We learned of the varied approaches to furthering good citizenship, ranging from the individual pursuit of virtue to the more contemporary idea of justice for all. We learned that ethical thinking is not optional, that every decision and every action - or lack of action - has ethical consequences.
We spoke of racism and how we must listen to those being discriminated against in order to aid our common fight against subtle and systemic barriers to equality. We spoke of ways in which to maintain Canadian culture by supporting our artists, the voice of our Canadian past, present, and future.
Most crucially our discussions stimulated us to think about issues fundamental to being Canadian - compassion and looking out for each other - and to think about the future of these Canadian values in our global world.
Seeing the intentness on the other students’ faces as they saw for the first time our Parliament, our memorials, our galleries, and our museums reminded me not only how lucky I am a native Ottawan to enjoy these aspects of our heritage daily, but also how imperative it is that we maintain these links. Young people must continue to have the opportunity to share with one another the cultural and historical wealth of our nation here in Ottawa and from coast to coast to coast.
Meeting people from across the country was invaluable. Listening to their opinions and perspectives on political issues helped me to better understand the difficulties of arriving at national consensus and the necessity of persevering.
Rotary Adventures in Citizenship reminded us that good citizenship means more than basic volunteerism and philanthropy. Good Canadian citizens look out for one another. They critically examine both their situation and the systemic and social causes of this situation. They question what they see. They stick to their principles. And they work together to solve the problems."
2006 Student Kirsten Boomer-Rotary from Ottawa
My family has been hosting students for Rotary’s
Adventures in Citizenship program for the past fourteen years. In other
words, I have grown up with the program for nearly my entire life, watching
students enter and leave my house year after year. Since I had grown up with
the program, when I sent in my application I was sure that I knew and fully
understood everything that the program represented and embodied.
However, upon entering the program I realized that I
could not have been more wrong. After having lived in Ottawa throughout my
life, I had never really discovered Ottawa or the history that it had left
behind for us to uncover. Through the Rotary Adventures in Citizenship
program, I was given the opportunity to discover Ottawa for myself, and
discover Ottawa as it was seen by other Canadians. I wasn’t singled out as
“the local”; instead I got to discover Ottawa just as the students from
across the country were discovering Ottawa.
Through discovering Ottawa, we began to discover
Canada as well. By meeting people from across Canada, I witnessed the
different cultures and varying beliefs within our one country. However,
though there were varying cultures and beliefs present, there remained
similarities between the Canadian students that were present at the
Adventures in Citizenship program. Each person present seemed to be linked
to the others not only by their nationality, but by their underlying support
in the strength of our nation. And though there were several different
cultures present and beliefs vocalized, everyone respected the cultures and
opinions of others, even if they did not necessarily agree with them. This
seemed to be a small representation of Canada’s acceptance of cultural
diversity in our nation. And the Adventures in Citizenship program proves to
remind Canada’s youth of how fortunate they are to live in a country that
respects all cultures and guaranties equality for each citizen instead of
racial discrimination between citizens.
Rotary’s Adventures in Citizenship program is an
extremely rewarding program though you do have to be prepared for a jam
packed schedule that lasts from around eight in the morning until about nine
at night upon entering the program. However, each bit of the program will
remain as a lasting memory and will impact your future beliefs and thoughts
of our nation and the amazing people that live within it. There will,
however, be parts of the program that will stand out in your mind above all
other experiences within the Adventures in Citizenship program. For me, my
favourite experience within the program was witnessing the swearing in of
new Canadian Citizens. It was absolutely amazing to see people coming from
different places and experiences, having overtaken several obstacles just to
be at that ceremony and to be able to be there to support them when they
finally received their Canadian citizenship. The children, upon being sworn
in as Canadian citizens, grabbed their tiny Canadian flag and began running
around the stage, waving it proudly with a sparkle in their eyes. Smiles and
hints of laughter by the parents who seemed equally as excited as their
children to become Canadian citizens. Then there was the grand old African
lady who seemed worn from the trials of life. She walked slowly but strongly
and with so much dignity and proudly accepted her citizenship. That was my
favourite part of the program, though everything else was equally amazing
and eye opening.
The Rotary Adventures in Citizenship program is
truly an incredible experience. This program truly cannot be improved upon;
it can only be embraced and experienced by the youth of our country. This
program arms us, the youth of the nation, with the tools to be prepared to
take this country into our own hands. It teaches us that we have the power
to shape our country as we see fit and we do not have to leave our country
to whomever may be in power at the time. We can do something. This program
arms you with new views, lifelong friends and is an absolutely amazing
experience. It is hard even to express the power and meaning that this
program provides, though I am sure that it represents different things to
the different people who attended. The youth are the future of our country,
so embrace the program and see what it can mean for you.
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