Former Prime Minister Paul Martin Visits Toronto French School

On Thursday, October 22nd, Toronto French School was delighted to receive a former Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Paul Martin.  Mr. Martin toured the campus, meeting students in the Junior School, before engaging Senior School students in a vigorous dialogue about poverty and climate change in Canada and abroad.

Mr. Martin was welcomed to the School by Headmaster Dr. John Godfrey, before addressing the assembled students on an issue with which he is deeply involved: climate change and poverty in the Congo Rainforest Basin. He discussed how 20% of CO2 emissions come from clear-cutting large swaths of rainforest and why that activity is integrally linked to the overwhelming poverty in the region. He also referenced the significant economic hardships in Canada for businesses coming to terms with targeted emissions reduction deadlines.

However, Mr. Martin’s talk with the students was a full two-way conversation during which he challenged the students to reflect on both the issues and their personal behaviours, and they in turn challenged him. For instance, when he asked one student how she arrived at school, she admitted she drove a car, then added “but it’s a hybrid!”

He also asked the students to list third-world countries. When no one named North America, he queried if they thought we had a third-world in Canada, then explained how difficult it is for Canadian aboriginal students to attend high school and that he found conditions here in our aboriginal communities to be identical to those in Africa. He asked the students “how can a country like Canada tolerate such poverty among us?”
Students both eloquently related observations they had made during excursions to northern Ontario and responded to the situation, with one saying “we need to rectify the errors we have made.”

Finally, he requested: “I want the leaders of tomorrow to acknowledge that the aboriginals of Canada deserve our attention and require our help. We are responsible.”