Ottawa hosts national WE Day, Kevin Rabbitskin honoured for leadership skills

WE Day Ottawa was a star-studded affair that saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and two Juno Award-winning acts take the stage. But first, an Elder welcomed the 16,000-strong crowd at the Canadian Tire Centre to the unceded territory of the Algonquin Nation with a prayer.

ME to WE is a global movement that empowers young people to become change-making leaders through volunteerism. Over the past 20 years, it has evolved from an organization called Free the Children (an initiative aimed at ending child labour) to the WE organization. Today it has countless youth initiatives domestically and internationally aimed at creating a better future for everyone.

In his speech, Trudeau echoed the sentiment for the necessity of youth leadership. “When people tell you that you’re the leaders of tomorrow, I want you to disagree with them,” Trudeau told the crowd. “You are the leaders of today!”

The WE Day events celebrate the accomplishment of participants in WE initiatives, and the organization boasts that tickets to the events “can’t be bought, they must be earned.” This year, a large group of Cree youth was in attendance, including Kevin Rabbitskin who was honoured for winning the Governor General’s Award for Volunteerism a day earlier. The kids earned their tickets through their participation in the WE Take Action Summer Camps.

Musical acts such as Serena Ryder, Hedley and hip-hop artist Classified wowed the crowd. Speakers included Rick “Man in Motion” Hansen, who spoke on inspiring through action; legally blind photographer Hani Al Moulia, who shared his experience of living in a Syrian refugee camp and emigrating to Canada; and Trudeau’s mother Margaret, who gave a lighthearted speech on mental health and her struggles with bipolar disorder.

“In one of my manic episodes I even ran off with the Rolling Stones,” she told the crowd. “Zero regrets.”

The event included several Indigenous speakers, including actor-singer Tom Jackson. He delivered a spoken-word piece that started with an anecdote: “If this is your first time hearing me speak, this will be news to you, but I love you. And I have a brother in Winnipeg named Bernie, and he told me, ‘If you’re going tell them you love them, tell them I love them too.’ So Bernie loves you too.”

The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund addressed the issues surrounding residential schools. “If you haven’t seen The Secret Path, please watch it, talk about it, talk about residential schools and what each one of us can do, and then let’s get to work,” said TV director Mike Downie, brother of Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie. “Don’t you think it’s time we built a country based on 12,000 years of Indigenous culture and beauty?”

Pearl and Daisy Wenjack, sisters of the boy whose tragic story is told in The Secret Path, then joined Mike and Gord Downie on stage. The sisters shared an emotional, traditional song based on the Medicine Wheel.

“The song has four choruses, it covers all the colours of people – black, white, yellow and red. Make friends with these people. You will find they are like you,” said Pearl Wenjack.

Besides the event, the WE organization also tries to do its part to build a dialogue around Indigenous issues in Canada. The WE Stand Together Initiative aims to strengthen ties between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians through learning and dialogue.

The Indigenous content, speakers and segments seen throughout WE Day is the rule, not the exception. “We always make sure to include lots of Indigenous content and speakers, no matter what city the event is taking place in,” said Annie Ethier, the director of Free the Children Montreal and Ottawa. “We want to share culture and values and challenge people to open up a dialogue and collaborate on issues.”

Cree teen receives Governor General’s award for volunteerism

Kevin Rabbitskin, a 14-year-old from Mistissini, received the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award for Volunteerism during a ceremony November 8 in Ottawa. The event was hosted by the ME to WE organization as a prelude to WE Day Ottawa, an event that took place the following day at Canadian Tire Place.

Rabbitskin won the award with nine other outstanding young people involved in the ME to WE organization and their respective communities. In a serendipitous moment just before Rabbitskin made the walk across the stage to receive his award, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde ascended the escalator behind the ceremony.

It is the first time the award has been recognized an Indigenous youth in the region, according to Annie Ethier, director of Free the Children Montreal and Ottawa.

  

Rabbitskin’s nomination followed his participation in the We Take Action summer camps, an initiative that brings young people together from every background to explore global and local issues and build leadership skills. This past summer, there were 45 Cree participants, marking the fifth time youth from Eeyou Istchee have attended the camps.

“Rabbitskin displayed exemplary leadership skills by bringing kids from different cultural backgrounds together to collaborate on activities,” Ethier explained. “And once he was back in his community, Kevin continued to use the leadership skills he learned at the camps to bring people together around Cree culture.”

Rabbitskin says he will continue both his community work and activities with the We organization. “I was really surprised that I won the award,” said Rabbitskin. “I felt happy, excited and proud. It was a lot of fun.”  

“We are proud that the Governor General of Canada has recognized a Cree youth with this prestigious award for people who make a difference in their communities and their nation,” said Cree Nation Government Justice Director Donald Nicholls. “We hope that more youth will become involved in activities that improve the lives of people around them, and in the world community as well.”