{"id":56103,"date":"2019-05-03T15:00:45","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T19:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=56103"},"modified":"2025-08-19T10:03:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T14:03:21","slug":"trudeau-youth-summit","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/trudeau-youth-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"PM Trudeau Visits Summit at Carleton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n PM Trudeau Visits Summit at Carleton\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Young people are not the leaders of tomorrow. They need to be leaders today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was one of the main messages shared by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the first-ever Canada Youth Summit<\/a>, a gathering that brought 300 young leaders from coast to coast to coast to Carleton University on May 2 and 3, 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEmpowering young people is not some nice thing to do on the side,\u201d Trudeau said at the opening plenary of the summit, which was convened to celebrate the launch of Canada\u2019s first youth policy<\/a>, discuss key issues identified by youth, share youth experiences with service and what it means to them, and inspire more youth to serve their communities. \u201cIt\u2019s core to ensuring that government is functioning the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Governments are in office for short periods of time, Trudeau continued, while youth think about challenges \u2014 such as climate change, human rights, racism and poverty \u2014 that they and their peers will face for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s essential to address these things at a national and societal level,\u201d said Trudeau.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why your voices are so important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youth should be encouraged to join boards and advisory councils, he said, so they really have an opportunity to weigh in on issues. Filters between youth and power need to be removed so youth voices are legitimized and heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, service can be a powerful path to change, said Trudeau. Not only does it benefit the communities where youth volunteer, it also transforms the lives of those who participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou believe you have the capacity to shape the world around you for the better,\u201d he said, \u201cand we as a government need to empower you. Unless we hear from everybody, we will not be able to build the kind of world that you expect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Prime Minister Trudeau Engages with Student Groups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Before delivering his remarks at the summit, Trudeau met with Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon<\/a> and Lily Akagbosu<\/a>, who has just started her term as president of the Carleton University Students\u2019 Association (CUSA) after serving as the association\u2019s vice-president of student issues this past academic year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re honoured to host the Canada Youth Summit 2019 at Carleton,\u201d said Bacon. \u201cEducation is a very important part of the equation when it comes to societal change, and empowering the ideas and energy of the next generation, the leaders of today and tomorrow, is what we are all about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon, CUSA President Lily Akagbosu and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel very fortunate to be able to share my input at the summit,\u201d said Daniel Patterson, a delegate graduating with a sociology degree this year from Carleton.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThis government is doing a good job of trying to engage youth and people from other often marginalized communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Beyond speeches, breakout sessions and a marketplace showcasing work and volunteer opportunities for youth with government agencies and non-profit organizations, the summit included performances and visits from other leaders and prominent Canadians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGovernment officials do want to make change,\u201d said Patterson. \u201cIt may come slowly, but they\u2019re in it for the long haul. And these types of events can really spark people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Importance of a Free Press<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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On the second day of the summit, Trudeau participated in a town hall Q&A with delegates and then met with staff from The Charlatan<\/em>, Carleton\u2019s independent newspaper, to mark World Press Freedom Day<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThe digital age has made sharing information easier than ever before,\u201d he said in a release.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cBut it has also given way to online spaces that peddle disinformation and reduce complex issues into oversimplified, toxic us-versus-them narratives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJournalists increasingly find themselves competing in these online spaces against malicious foreign agents and opinion makers who would rather manipulate people and foment division than inform the public and create a common set of facts. Independent, fact-based reporting is vital. Few professions have the power \u2014 and responsibility \u2014 to enrich conversations, open people to new ideas and perspectives, and widen the lens on the challenges we face.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Young people are not the leaders of tomorrow. They need to be leaders today. That was one of the main messages shared by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the first-ever Canada Youth Summit, a gathering that brought 300 young leaders from coast to coast to coast to Carleton University on May 2 and 3, 2019. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":56119,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[25],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-56103","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-student-experience"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/56103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/56103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56124,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/56103\/revisions\/56124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=56103"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=56103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}