That’s it, the month of November is here, with all the grayness that accompanies it. And it seems to me that the news is darkening more than ever…
The climate crisis. The economy which falters dangerously. An autumn full of viruses, which harm the big ones, but especially the little ones. The war in Ukraine. Our southern neighbors who scare us. Europe which is increasingly polarized and China which is getting tougher.
It would be easy to indulge in the gloom of November, but that would be to forget that it is still good to live here. We can consider ourselves lucky, until now, to live in our end of the country. Our political situation and our public institutions are all the same much more stable than elsewhere. Thanks to our system of redistribution of wealth, our society is more egalitarian. We feel relatively sheltered from the slippages that have already been observed in the United States and elsewhere in Europe.
To face all this grayness, it seems to me that we would be ripe to meet around a flagship and unifying project.
I know that the needs are crying out and that many public services deserve our attention. I would be the first to want to talk about housing, its social, economic and environmental importance. Its role in countering inequalities or promoting the integration of immigrants. Of the need for the State to contribute in this way to collective well-being. And as a business leader, in the face of uncertain times on the horizon, it would also be natural for me to preach to focus on the economy and our ability to weather a recession.
That said, I rather want to bring us back to basics, to the essentials. To what is not only a necessity, but an imperative investment for our society.
Maybe I’m on the wrong track, but it seems to me that in the face of all our societal challenges, resilience, ingenuity, innovation, leadership, nuance, empathy, benevolence, interpersonal skills and the sense of community are born within the same common place: Education. With a capital E.
We have been debating this for decades. However, during the last election campaign, I am not sure that we really talked about Education. Worse still, I’m not sure that in Quebec we value education as we should. It seems to me that it is now or never, while the world order seems to be shaken around us, to make Education THE priority of our nation. To put the knowledge, skills and life skills of our children back at the heart of our daily concerns.
We’ve said it a thousand times, but we have to say it again: by choosing Education as a collective priority, we’re building a better society for tomorrow.
I am not prime minister. I am not a minister. And I have no political ambitions. I am not a teacher. Nor a member of the teaching staff. Or school principal. I am not in possession of conclusive data on Education.
But I am a citizen. And I am the mother of three young children. So I, too, have great responsibilities with regard to education. In fact, I think we all have them.
First, let’s talk to our children about its importance. Let’s find ways for them to fall in love with school every day. Let’s value general culture, critical thinking, philosophy, even in toddlers. Let’s make our children curious and give them the desire to learn and know more and more. Let’s give them the tools they need to grow and develop to their full potential.
Let’s not produce workers, but let’s have the ambition to make our children citizens who will dream better and more than we still do, and who will have the necessary skills to make those dreams come true. Let’s arouse their desire to do good, to bring out the best in them.
Let’s convince them that it is through education, through general culture, through the development of committed citizens that we can build a better, fairer, and thus more prosperous world.
Let’s convince ourselves.
And, as a society, let’s put all our heart, all our means, all our convictions and all our actions at the service of this flagship project. Let’s put all our weight, regardless of our allegiances, behind this living force that our children represent: children, teenagers and young adults.
Everywhere in the world, we see the extremes which divide more and more, on the right as on the left. Let us be convinced that in the face of division, one of the best possible responses remains education.
Despite their imperfections, let us be proud of our schools, our colleges, our vocational training and our university institutions. Let us continue to invest at all levels of education.
There is no more beautiful outstretched hand than Education. It is undeniable: an educated people is a people who are masters of their destiny.
Let us build a strong and stable society in Québec that will be able to show critical thinking when faced with the information presented to it and that will have the courage to make difficult decisions based on facts and collective values. Let’s be ambitious: let’s commit to having here, in Quebec, the best education system there is.
Let’s do it for our children, but also for us.