Senator says students should care about more than just tuition costs

Canadian Senator and retired General, Romeo Dallaire challenged youth to look beyond their next exam and get their “boots dirty” Wednesday, while speaking at Marianopolis College.
Dallaire, a senior fellow at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights at Concordia University, reached international prominence with the release of his memoirs, Shake Hands with the Devil. The book chronicled his time as Commander of UN peacekeeping forces in Rwanda during the 1993 genocide.
His speech, “Revitalizing Canada’s World Role and Renewing Youth Activism,” was rooted in what Dallaire described as “a new world order [in which] 80 per cent of humanity is living in inhuman conditions.”
Since releasing his memoirs he has worked towards raising awareness of and ending human rights violations in impoverished areas.
Citing Canada’s mastery of technology and strong work ethic, Dallaire described Canada as “a leading middle power” on the world scene. Most importantly, he spoke to empower what he calls the middle power within Canada: youth.
“Youth are the balance of power,” he said.”Eighteen to 35-year-olds make up 35 per cent of eligible voters, but only 15 per cent vote.”
Dallaire attributed political apathy among youth a consequence of being “well managed, not necessarily well led.”
He told the audience to mark 2017, the 150th anniversary of Confederation and the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge, as a deadline for Canada to become a world leader in international human rights again.
Encouraging youth to look beyond their degrees, he suggested those in the audience join NGOs fundamentally based in human rights. “The only activism I’m seeing is on tuition.” Dallaire cautioned, “Your peers are being massively abused. They seek only to have the opportunity to live. Not survive 8212; live. Go to the source of the rage and attenuate it there.”
During the brief time allotted for audience questions, a Concordia student asked for the Senator’s opinion on the use of the term “war-affected child” over “child soldier,” to which Dallaire responded that it is “nothing less than disgusting.”

Canadian Senator and retired General, Romeo Dallaire challenged youth to look beyond their next exam and get their “boots dirty” Wednesday, while speaking at Marianopolis College.
Dallaire, a senior fellow at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights at Concordia University, reached international prominence with the release of his memoirs, Shake Hands with the Devil. The book chronicled his time as Commander of UN peacekeeping forces in Rwanda during the 1993 genocide.
His speech, “Revitalizing Canada’s World Role and Renewing Youth Activism,” was rooted in what Dallaire described as “a new world order [in which] 80 per cent of humanity is living in inhuman conditions.”
Since releasing his memoirs he has worked towards raising awareness of and ending human rights violations in impoverished areas.
Citing Canada’s mastery of technology and strong work ethic, Dallaire described Canada as “a leading middle power” on the world scene. Most importantly, he spoke to empower what he calls the middle power within Canada: youth.
“Youth are the balance of power,” he said.”Eighteen to 35-year-olds make up 35 per cent of eligible voters, but only 15 per cent vote.”
Dallaire attributed political apathy among youth a consequence of being “well managed, not necessarily well led.”
He told the audience to mark 2017, the 150th anniversary of Confederation and the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge, as a deadline for Canada to become a world leader in international human rights again.
Encouraging youth to look beyond their degrees, he suggested those in the audience join NGOs fundamentally based in human rights. “The only activism I’m seeing is on tuition.” Dallaire cautioned, “Your peers are being massively abused. They seek only to have the opportunity to live. Not survive 8212; live. Go to the source of the rage and attenuate it there.”
During the brief time allotted for audience questions, a Concordia student asked for the Senator’s opinion on the use of the term “war-affected child” over “child soldier,” to which Dallaire responded that it is “nothing less than disgusting.”