Speaking Notes for Congress of Aboriginal Peoples
National Chief Patrick Brazeau
to the Community Wellness Program
2007 Conference
Yellowknife, NT
October 2, 2007
(Check Against Delivery)
Good morning, everyone, and welcome. Thanks, as well, ADM Cummings, for your introduction today. I’m proud to stand before you today on the ancestral land of the Tlicho First Nation.
Let me begin by saying that being asked to speak about “wellness” is a daunting task. Where does one begin? What can one say that’s not been said before? How does one effectively deliver a message that provides hope, while remaining compelling and speaking with the sense of conviction needed to affirm the singular importance of wellness in our Aboriginal communities from sea to sea to sea?
Let me tell you, the answer to these challenges lies within us – each and every one of us. All of us gathered here today are leaders. We are each potential role models to our young people, and to our disadvantaged, who seek to better their health, their circumstance and their fundamental lot in life.
Wellness – true wellness in the most holistic sense of the word -- is about so many things. It’s about giving people of all ages and stations in life a sense of purpose to their existence.
It’s about meeting the real needs of real people, in sustainable ways, offering more than a quick fix to immediate needs. It’s about recognizing that true wellness is rooted in the recognition of the value of family and community, and to recognize that that the need to embrace strategies for the continued improvement of wellness knows no age boundary, no gender distinction, nor any other pre-determined condition.
Dealing with the wellness of communities means providing our young people with the skills necessary to identify and set achievable goals, as well as helping them determine and avail themselves to the tools required to meet these challenges. And fundamental to this, is the real need to build healthy environments that can sustain and enhance efforts to measurably improve wellness.
So how do we begin to fill this terribly tall order? Surprisingly, there are steps we can each easily take to invest in improving the wellness of our communities and our people.
It starts with two fundamental elements: Responsibility and accountability. I remain absolutely convinced that the first step to wellness is to root its pursuit in a determined sense of personal responsibility. We are personally responsible for our actions, our reactions and for the choice of path upon which we will tread through life.
And while the circumstances, events and occurrences will have immense impact on the ebb and flow of our life experience, it’s up to each of us to embrace our success and equally to learn and grow from our setbacks, and indeed, from our failures, as well.
This is where a commitment to personal accountability becomes so vital. We all make mistakes. We have all seen – and will see again – times and events in our own lives where our self-discipline is not what it could be. We have all experienced error and times of defeat.
But we each owe it to ourselves, our communities and our youth, to learn and grow from times of adversity. It is how we forge on in the face of such challenges that speak to the success of an individual, and to the health of a community.
In a spirit of responsibility and accountability, we have to embrace a shared commitment to demonstrating to our youth the great value of giving back – to our friends, our families and our communities. In a nation as prosperous and free as Canada, we must instill in our young people the notion that with such opportunity comes rights and responsibilities that must be acknowledged, embraced and respected.
This sense of volunteerism I’m speaking of is of incredible importance. Giving back through volunteerism builds character, provides valuable experience and instills pride. If, as they say, “idle hands are the devil’s playthings”, there is no better way to overcome temptation towards a darker path than by keeping busy. In short, it’s the application of common sense, for the common good.
So then, if accountability and responsibility are the foundations upon which community wellness can be built, literacy and education are the surest means of ensuring sustainable community wellness programs.
Again, let’s distill this notion down to its simplest essence: We must encourage our youth to stay in school. Further, we must enable them to stay in school. And what’s more, we must give them a reason to stay in school.
I see before me today a roomful of reasons to stay in school. If I were asked to sum up this room in a word, it would be “passion”. You are all accomplished professionals with a passion for what you do. This dedication to your passion puts food on your table, gets you out of bed in the morning and is the fuel that guides your endeavours. It’s been said “find a job that you love and you’ll never work another day in your life.”
So then, how do we bring this truism to life in the hearts, and souls and minds of our youth? What can we do to give them a reason to get out of bed every morning? How can we help them to find and identify their passions? How can we nurture and encourage our youth towards what it is that turns their respective cranks?
Perhaps it’s sport, the arts, technology or culture. Regardless of where they find, or what shape or form it takes, there are no wrong answers in respect of a youth’s passions. We must dedicate ourselves to helping to ignite such dreams in our youth, and ensuring that they receive the support and encouragement necessary for them to achieve their dreams.
Again, I hate to defer to slogans, but I believe it’s true that “the harder you work, the better your luck gets.” Let’s all commit ourselves to helping our youth set their priorities and goals, and to instilling in them the self-discipline and self-confidence that will help them climb their respective mountains.
More specific to the discussion around improving community wellness is the very distinct needs and aspirations we have as Aboriginal peoples in Canada.
There are fundamental elements to wellness which are unique to the
Indigenous context. These include concepts such as the promotion of nationhood, a strong sense of Aboriginal identity and the ability to readily embrace one's Aboriginal culture.
I cannot over-emphasize how important a role these things play in helping to deliver healthy, grounded and successful individuals, proud of their heritage, confident in their identity and committed to a productive and successful personal journey.
Now, I’m certain that there are some of you here today that might think that I’m viewing life through rose-coloured glasses, and that perhaps I’m being a bit of a Boy Scout in my approach to the seemingly overwhelming challenges to achieving sustainable wellness in our communities.
Let me assure, I approach none of these challenges lightly. Perhaps it’s my relative youth and thankfully, a purposeful lack of cynicism on my behalf. But, let’s turn now, and face some of the bleak circumstances that befall us.
If there is one thing that colours the debate concerning our way of life, our communities and our collective future, it is the cloud of negativity that sadly surrounds much of our people. We must adopt a belief and a culture of self-improvement instead of the current negative mantra. We are doing ourselves no favours by embracing a litany that focuses on the odds being against Aboriginal achievement, or that considers delivering real hope for our peoples a futile pursuit.
For me, there can be no time for any more defeatist messages. If a child is told repeatedly that his or her life chances are limited, the odds are great that such beliefs will become self-fulfilled as they achieve adulthood. This is simply not good enough.
‘Hard work builds success.’
‘Leadership can be nurtured and grown through example, effort and sacrifice.’
‘The more you earn, the more you learn.’
‘The road to the top begins and ends with me.’
These are the types of messages that must be repeated and repeated and repeated. For sure and for certain, the game may be fixed. But I’m here today to tell you that we aren’t going to win if we don’t play.
If there is one message I want you to take away with you today it’s this: Become engaged. Become active in steering your life and your community. Aim high, dream big and focus. Follow your dream, measure your successes and your failures, and adjust your course as necessary.
We must remind ourselves every step of the journey that we hold this country’s greatest asset in our hands – our young people. We are the custodians of their futures. We have a stake in their success. And we share a role as catalysts to bring about the conditions that will permit and encourage them to succeed and flourish.
This means we must carry out the work we do on their behalf in the same spirit of responsibility and accountability that we are asking our youth to model their own behaviors upon. Above all, we need to eliminate a culture of armchair criticism and replace it with a pursuit rooted in action. We must be prepared to deliver tough messages and hard truths, and to step outside the conventions of political correctness.
We must at all times and in all places, bear in mind that true advocacy involves more than seeking money. It’s about bringing about change – in attitudes, awareness, understanding and accommodation. It’s about diligence and delivery, dedication, and an end to dependence.
As the youngest national Aboriginal leader in Canada, I’m honoured to have been given the mantle of advocating for the needs and aspirations of Canada’s off-reserve Aboriginal peoples. But my honour in doing so remains rigidly rooted in a sense of personal humility in the face of such responsibility.
My path to success follows a road on which we, in this room today, and so many others, walk upon together. We share a role as stakeholders in the success of our communities. Together, we have the strength, the creativity, the vigour and the unbridled energy to achieve so much.
As leaders, professionals, stakeholders and indeed, as human beings who care deeply about their fellow men and women, I ask you today to commit yourselves and your communities to being examples of responsibility, accountability and achievement.
Canada, and the world will thank us for it in the years to come.
Thank you. I’d be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
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Al Fleming
Director
Public Affairs
613-747-6022 (office)
613-867-8696 (mobile)
al@abo-peoples.org
