A friend once asked me: “Who do you have a deep admiration for?” »
“The first person would be the one who founded Canada World Youth. The second would be the one who founded Katimavik,” I replied. With a laughing air, she exclaimed: “There is consistency in your admirations, because it is the same person: Jacques Hébert. »
Needless to say, I immediately went to read his bio. This late journalist and senator, who died in 2007, had quite a vision in the 1970s. He was convinced that Canada could become the conscience of rich countries and the catalyst for North-South dialogue, thanks to the fact that Canada, , had no ambition for domination, did not welcome racism (history had not yet given him the opportunity!), and had an impeccable colonial past (…let’s say that the senator, involving indigenous communities years later, realized the aberration of this ideology).
Whatever the case, according to him, he wanted to bring this vision to life for a very specific group: young adults who are builders of tomorrow (17-25 years old). Thus in 1971 he founded Jeunesse Canada Monde (JCM).
But this is the sad fate of the post-pandemic. Hit hard by the federal funds cut from organizations whose activities involved travel during Covid-19, we announced an end to JCM programs in September 2022.
When Susan Handrigan, the president and CEO, announced this to me, I brushed aside this inevitability. Impossible. JCM is the Klondike of NGOs in Canada, our “Peace Corps”!
There are several other notorious programs today, but JCM was popular! In my opinion, JCM stood out thanks to three concepts. 1. The participants spent 3-4 months in another province in Canada before going abroad, focusing on opening up to other solitude. 2. During the 3-4 months in Canada, the program welcomed young people from majority countries (the Third World as they called it in the time of Jacques Hébert). 3. Everything took place with host families, allowing them to truly immerse themselves in the habits and customs, while working voluntarily in the communities, sometimes on a farm, sometimes digging a well. CWY’s successes in recent years have included initiatives for indigenous people.
“I am going to write to my MP for Papineau… with his initials JT. But honestly, I repeated to Susan, don’t worry. JCM cannot close. »
Here we are a year later. A generous petition from alumni and several articles from coast to coast, but no reversal.
Well settled with our respective families in the warm sand of Cap Pelé near Moncton just a few weeks ago, my sister-in-law Marie immersed herself in the memories of her JCM -1999 adventure. Three months in Cape Breton and three months in Egypt, both experiences with Aya, her Egyptian counterpart. I devoured his story like a lobster lover would with his first roll of the season. She unequivocally plunged back into the most significant memories of her youth.
JCM will thus have contributed to shaping Marie’s most beautiful memories… of Kimmyanne my dance teacher who adds West African movements to her choreographies, of my friend Winston for whom involvement with young Quebec entrepreneurs internationally is a compass for survival in daily life. I bet you know this old man or woman too.
The JCM adventure has been the most formative personal development milestone for 50,000 young people over the last fifty years.
If the Honorable Senator Hébert were still with us, perhaps he would go on a hunger strike, as he did in 1986 to contest the Mulroney government’s decision to cut off supplies to Katimavik, the sister organization of JCM, which he founded in 1977.
Isn’t it absurd to think that our young people will be confined within the four walls of a classroom, from kindergarten until the end of university! Funny system. It’s no surprise that countries like France institutionalize transition programs where young people must explore the world with well-designed internships.
Times have changed since 1971, and I have to say that the climate transition is a global challenge requiring the contribution of international cooperation organizations. It is more important than ever to have citizens who understand the interdependence of countries, and the mechanisms that allow (or not) to distribute wealth equitably. A continuation of the program could focus on the involvement of young people in improving the environmental performance of communities. Involve them more within indigenous communities. Equip them to better understand social innovation, food sovereignty… to name just a few current challenges.
I can’t help but think what a better country in the world Canada could become if programs like those of CWY became accessible to all young people.
I know a senator in the past who would have supported such a motion.